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GIFT 
NOV  4   1915         REPORT 


OF  THE 


Senate  Wage  Commission 

FOR  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN  IN 
THE  STATE  OF  MISSOURI 


TO   THE 


Senate  of  the  48th  General  Assembly 


OF 


MISSOURI 


'  1915 


REPORT 


OF   THE 


SENATE  WAGE  COMMISSION 

FOR  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN  IN  THE 
STATE  OF  MISSOURI 


TO   THE 


Senate  of  the  48th  General  Assembly 


OP 


MISSOURI 


"-^'^c^ciC*' 


1915 


\A^ 


Jeffersoj^  City 

The  Hugh  Stephens  Co. 

Printers 


,\Ft 


I 


2,500  copies  ordered  printed. 

W.   A.    NORMAN,   Secretary. 
February  4,   1915. 


320775 


REPORT    MADE     BY    THE    SENATE    WAGE    COM- 
MISSION FOR  WOMEN  AND  CHILDREN 
IN  THE  STATE  OF  MISSOURI. 


(The  Senate  Wage  Commission  was  chosen  on  a  resolution  introduced  in  the 
Senate  by  Michael  Kinney  for  the  purpose  of  determining  the  wages  paid  working 
women  in  Missouri,  with  a  view  to  determining  the  advisability  of  securing  a  minimum 
wage.  The  committee  as  appointed  consisted  of  Michael  Kinney,  chairman,  of  St. 
Louis;  Lieut.  Gov.  W.  R.  Painter,  of  Carrollton;  Francis  M.  Wilson  of  Platte  City; 
W.  W.  Green  of  Kansas  City;  Thomas  B,  Whitledge  of  St.  Mary's,  and  George  D. 
Gates  of  Southwest  City.  Senator  Wilson  resigned  and  Thomas  J.  Lysaught  of  St. 
Joseph  was  chosen  to  take  his  place.  The  commission  held  sessions  in  St.  Louis,  Kansas 
City,  St.  Joseph,  Springfield,  and  Joplin.     Four  hundred  witnesses  were  examined.) 

To  the  Senate  of  the  Forty-Eighth  General  Assembly: 

The  Senate  Wage  Commission  begs  leave  to  submit  to  your 
honorable    body   the   following   report. 

An  investigation  was  made  into  the  wages  paid,  conditions 
under  which  girls  work,  number  of  years  they  attended  school, 
length  of  time  they  have  been  employed  and  whether  they 
were  earning  enough  for  self-support  in  factories,  department 
stores,  laundries  and  all  other  industries  where  women  are 
employed. 

Evidence  was  submitted  willingly  by  all  girl  employees 
and  by  the  employers  in  all  lines  of  work  investigated. 

The  commission  is  indebted  to  George  B.  Mangold,  director 
of  the  School  of  Economy  of  Washington  University,  who  with 
Miss  Anne  M.  Evans,  former  special  agent  of  the  Federal  Labor 
Bureau,  under  authority  from  the  commission,  made  an  auxil- 
iary investigation  into  the  wages,  cost  of  living  and  conditions 
of  labor  of  women  in  the  manufacturing  industries  of  St.  Louis. 
Miss  Mary  E.  Bulkley  also  rendered  the  commission  valuable 
service.  Probably  60,000  women  and  girls,  not  including  serv- 
ants, are  employed  in  the  cities  of  the  state.  Of  this  number 
probably   10,000   are   earning   their   own   living. 

Thousands  of  these  girls  and  women  are  not  earning  enough 
to  properly  feed  and  clothe  them.  Many  showed  evidences 
of  tuberculosis  and  other  diseases,  due  undoubtedly  to  condi- 
tions under  which  they  are  forced  to   work. 


'  •      :  6  [48 

Girls  in  some  in-scartces  are  taken  from  school  at  the  age  of 
14  and  put  to  work  in  the  commercial  world  to  help  support 
father,  mother,  brother  or  sister. 

The  employers  of  these  girls  cannot  shirk  all  responsi- 
bility. Neither  can  the  state.  There  ought  to  be  remedial 
legislation— either  by  a  law  fixing  a  minimum  wage  for  women 
and  girls  or  by  the  establishment  of  a  wage  board  to  adjust  the 
pay  of  women  in  various  parts  of  the  state  to  insure  for  them 
an  income  sufficient  at  least  to  clothe  and  feed  them  properly. 
In  our  judgment  a  commission  with  power  to  fix  wages,  in  the 
various  occupations  and  to  gracle  same,  from  beginner  to  the 
expert  would   be   best. 

The  minimum  cost  of  living  for  girls,  according  to  the  best 
estimates  obtainable,  is  $8.53  per  week  in  St,  Louis,  $8.50  per 
week  in  Kansas  City,  and  probably  $8  per  week  in  the  smaller 
cities  of  the  state.  The  minimum  wage  fixed  in  Oregon  is 
$8.28  per  week;  in  Minnesota  $8.65  per  week;  and  in  Wisconsin 
$8.50  per  week.  /In  the  last  ten  years  the  increase  in  food  prices 
has  been  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  per  cent  while  the  increase 
in  wages  paid  girls  and  women  has  not  been  to  exceed  ten  per 
cent,  save  in  specific  cases. 

Thousands  of  girls  in  the  state  are  existing  on  $4.50  to  $5 
per  week.  Few  of  those  who  testified  hardly  knew  how  they 
did    it. 

For  the  most  part  employers  are  taking  an  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  their  employees,  but  the  heads  of  several  firms  in 
St.  Louis,  Kansas  City,  St.  Joseph,  Joplin  and  Springfield,  ad- 
mitted they  paid  no  attention  to  the  welfare  of  the  girls  employed 
by  them.  The  fine  system  still  prevailed  in  many  institutions. 
This  is  notably  true  of  mercantile  establishments  in  Joplin 
and    one    or    two    in    St.    Louis. 

Stools  are  provided  in  practically  all  stores  ostensibly 
placed  there  that  girls  may  rest  when  not  busy,  but  they  are 
rarely  used  for  the  reason  that  the  employees  do  not  deem  it 
"advisable"  and  because  they  are  told  it  is  "unbusinesslike." 

Conditions  of  contract  shops  are  not  good.  Old  buildings, 
cheap  and  bad  locations,  poor  light,  and  unsanitary  conditions 
naturally  bring  disease  and  workers  plainly  show  the  results. 
There   is  little   work  in  unsanitary   homes. 

Mutual  aid  associations  are  maintained  in  many  depart- 
ment stores.  To  these  associations  the  employee  pays  25  cents 
a  month.     In  Joplin,  fines  collected  go  into  this  fund. 


48]  7  ■ 

In  all  of  the  larger  department  stores  throughout  the  state, 
rest  rooms  are  provided.  In  some  places  these  rest  rooms  are 
pleasantly  furnished  and  for  this  the  management  deserves 
praise. 

Cash  girls  and  bundle  wrappers  are  started  in  department 
stores  at  $2.50  to  $3  per  week.  In  nearly  every  other  line  of 
work  where  women  are  employed,  beginners  are  paid  $4  per 
week.  Just  how  employers  arrive  at  the  pay  of  beginners  re- 
mains inexplainable,  save  that  it  appears  to  be  a  custom.  Sales- 
ladies in  department  stores  average  from  $6  to  $9  in  all  parts 
of  the  state.  In  a  few  stores  the  amount  of  the  wage  of  sales- 
ladies is  determined  by  a  percentage  of  the  sales  made. 

The  average  wage  of  nutpickers  is  $8.80  according  to  pay- 
rolls submitted,  although  several  girls  employed  in  this  work 
in  St.  Louis  testified  they  earned  as  low  as  $3  and  $4   per  week. 

Paper  box  makers  average  $7.60  per  week.  Beginners  are 
paid    $4    per    week. 

Girls  in  candy  factories  are  started  at  $4.50  and  $5  per  week. 
The  work  is  piecework.  Testimony  showed  the  work  is  nerve- 
racking  owing  to  the  rapidity  with  which  they  are  compelled 
to   move. 

In  the  ten  cent  stores,  $6  and  $7  appear  to  be  the  maximum 
wage  paid  with  one  or  two  exceptions.  The  testimony  of 
managers  was  that  $4  was  all  they  can  afford  to  pay  beginners. 

In  laundry  work  women  are  paid  as  low  as  $4,50.  It  is 
common  for  girls  to  faint  at  work  in  the  summer  owing  to  the 
heat.  Conditions  of  laundries  in  Kansas  City  are  apparently 
better  than  they  are  in  other  parts  of  the  state. 

Machine  operators  in  envelope  factories,  turning  out  from 
65,000  to  80,000  envelopes  daily  receive  $6  to  $7  per  week. 
Girls  injured  in  one  St.  Louis  envelope  factory  have  been  sent 
to  the  city  dispensary. 

Cordage  mill  workers  average  $6.62  per  week.  Compe- 
tition in  the  East  controls  this  wage. 

Tobacco  workers  are  paid  from  $9  to  $10  per  week,  after 
they  gain  experience. 

Factory  shirtmakers  are  started  at  $3  per  week,  and  ex- 
perienced makers  earn  from  $7  to  $8.50  per  week. 

Waitresses  are  paid  from  $4.50  to  $7  a  week,  and  tips  run 
from  50  cents  to  $1  a  day.  One  restaurant  in  St.  Joseph  and 
one  in  St.  Louis  were  found  to  be  working  their  girls  more  than 
nine  hours  per  day.  At  the  City  Club  in  St.  Louis,  women 
are  paid  on  an  average  of  $7  per  week. 


8  [48 

Scrubwomen  in  the  office  buildings  of  St.  Louis  and  Kansas 
City  are  paid  on  an  average  of  $5  per  week. 

The  irregularity  of  employment  is  an  important  factor 
in  the  annual  wage  income  of  girls,  and  while  the  wage  received 
per  w^eek  for  the  weeks  worked  may  be  sufficient  to  properly 
feed  and  clothe  the  employees  for  those  weeks,  yet  the  total 
annual  income  is  insufficient.  That  is  a  matter  which  only  the 
employers    can    adjust. 

The  better  feeling  existing  between  the  employer  and  em- 
ployee brings    better    results    for    the    employer. 

Out  of  a  total  of  215  employees  in  five  establishments  visited, 
17  or  7.9  per  cent  of  the  total  number  received  an  average  wage 
of  less  than  $3  per  week,  70  of  32.55  per  cent  of  the  total  number 
employed  received  an  average  wage  of  less  than  $5  per  week, 
115  or  53.48  per  cent  of  the  total  number  received  an  average 
of  less  than  $7  per  week,  while  tw^o-thirds  received  a  weekly 
wage  of  less  than  $8. 

One  factory — factory  No.  36 — visited  is  on  the  fifth 
floor  of  an  old  building.  The  ground  floor  entrance  is  on  a  side 
street  and  the  only  elevator  for  the  six  or  seven  floors  is  a  large 
freight  elevator.  There  was  a  great  deal  of  waste  paper  or 
combustible  matter  on  the  floors  and  around  the  ground 
floor  entrance.  Windows  on  two  sides  of  the  large  work  room, 
a  part  of  which  is  partitioned  off  and  used  as  the  employer's 
office,  furnish  insufficient  light  for  those  working  away  from  the 
windows  so  that  artificial  light  had  to  be  used  most  of  the  time. 
No  system  of  ventilation  is  used,  and  consequently  the  air  is 
extremely  bad.  No  provisions  are  made  for  adequate  lunch 
rooms,  the  employees  eating  at  their  machines.  Skirts  and  one 
piece  dresses  are  made  there.  The  factory  operates  nine  hours 
a  day  except  on  Saturdays,  when  it  closes  at  12:30.  One  half 
hour    is    allowed    for    luncheon. 

This  factory  had  a  total  of  84  employees,  7  or  8.33  per  cent 
of  the  total  number  received  an  average  wage  of  less  than  $3 
per  week,  and  worked  for  a  period  of  one  to  eight  weeks  during 
the  year,  30  or  35  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  employees 
received  an  average  wage  of  less  than  $5  a  week,  and  worked  for 
a  period  of  from  one  to  24  weeks,  50  or  59.02  per  cent  of  the  total 
number  received  an  average  wage  of  less  than  $7  per  week  and 
worked  for  a  period  of  from  one  to  48  weeks  during  the  year. 

Seventeen  or  20.23  per  cent  worked  for  a  period  of  less  than 
five  weeks.     49  or  58.33  per  cent  worked  for  a  period  of  less 


48]  9 

than  25  weeks,  25  of  29.76  per  cent  of  the  total  number  worked  for 
a  period  of  45  weeks  and  over.  The  period  covered  by  the  pay- 
roll  was   48    weeks. 

Factory  No,  24,  a  shirt  factory  visited,  is  situated  on  the 
fourth  floor  of  a  fairly  sanitary  building.  The  workroom  occupies 
part  of  the  floor,  the  other  half  being  rented  to  another  firm. 
The  ventilation  is  poor.  Artificial  light  is  necessary  for  those 
working  away  from  windows.  The  factory  operates  nine  hours 
a  day  except  on  Saturday  when  it  closes  at  one  o'clock.  This 
factory  employes  69  women,  ten  of  them  receive  less  than  $3 
per  week,  and  work  for  a  period  of  from  one  to  ten  weeks,  27 
receive  an  average  of  less  than  $5  per  week  and  worked  for  a 
period  of  from  one  to  four  weeks,  40  received  an  average  wage 
of  less  than  $7  per  week  and  work  during  a  period  of  from  one 
to  24  weeks,  23  of  the  total  number  employed  work  for  a  period 
of  less  than  5  weeks,  45  work  for  a  period  of  less  than  25  weeks, 
5  work  for  a  period  of  from  49  to  52  weeks. 

Factory  No.  40  visited.  It  is  located  on  the  third  floor  of  a 
comparatively  new  building.  The  sanitation  and  general  physi- 
cal •  conditions  are  good.  The  workroom  is  divided  into  two 
rooms  by  a  partition.  Twenty  machines  are  operated.  There 
are  windows  on  only  one  side  of  the  room.  No  separate  lunch 
room  is  supplied.  Shirt  waists  are  made  in  this  factory.  The 
employers  said  there  is  no  home  work  done,  for  he  did  not 
trust  his  employees  to  take  their  work  home.  He  said  it  was 
difficult  to  get  skilled  labor  and  he  always  is  in  need  of  workers. 
Most  of  the  women  employed  had  been  there  for  years.  Two 
vacations  are  given  without  pay  during  the  slack  summer  months. 
No  employe  received  an  average  wage  of  less  than  $4  a  week. 
Three  of  the  total  number  employed  received  an  average  wage 
of  less  than  $5  a  week  and  worked  during  a  period  of  from  one 
to  sixteen  weeks.  Five  of  the  20  employed  received  an  average 
wage  of  less  than  $7  and  worked  during  the  period  of  from  one  to 

48  weeks.  One  employee  worked  during  the  period  of  less  than  . 
five  weeks,  five  worked  less  than  25  weeks,  and  8  worked  from 

49  to  52  weeks. 

Factory  No.  11  visited.  It  is  located  on  the  third  floor  of 
an  old  residence  building.  It  is  with  difficulty  that  the  insecure 
wooden  stairway  is  ascended  as  the  stairway  is  used  as  a  store- 
room for  boxes  and  lumber.  Only  seven  operators  are  employed. 
The  floor  is  unswept,  but  the  general  sanitary  conditions  are  not 
worse  than  are  found  in  such  factories.     No  artificial  lighting 


10 


[48 


is  required.  Only  petticoats  are  made.  The  factory  operates 
49  hours  per  week.  None  of  the  employees  received  under 
$5  a  week,  but  five  of  the  seven  received  less  than  $7  per  week. 
None  of  the  employees  worked  less  than  five  weeks.  One  worked 
about  8  weeks,  two  worked  25,  and  one  worked  the  entire  year. 

Factory  No.  48  visited,  is  located  in  a  congested  district 
where  many  factories  are  located.  The  machines  are  arranged 
in  two  rows  in  a  long  narrow  room  with  windows  in  the  ends 
only.  The  room  is  well  supplied  with  electric  lights  which  are 
burning  even  at  noonday.  Ventilation  is  inadequate,  although 
boards  are  placed  in  the  windows  which  would  provide  a  good 
system,  but  the  employer  said  the  women  objected  if  the  windows 
were  opened.  Only  girls  who  live  at  home  are  employed,  35 
women  are  employed.  None  receive  less  than  $3  per  week. 
Ten  received  less  than  $5  per  week,  and  worked  during  a  period 
of  from  9  to  52  weeks.  Fifteen  received  less  than  $7  per  week, 
and  worked  during  a  period  of  from  9  to  52  weeks.  None  of 
the  employees  worked  less  than  9  weeks.  8  worked  during  a 
period  of  less  than  25  weeks,  7  worked  for  the  full  year. 

From  two  factories  visited  it  was  possible  to  obtain  the 
exact  number  of  days  worked  and  lost  by  each  employee.  The 
table  showing  these  figures  follows: 


EMPLOYEES   RECEIVING 

Factories 
listed. 

Under 
$3.00 

$3  to 
$3.99 

$4  to 
$4.99 

$5  to 
$5.99 

$6  to 
$6.99 

$7  to 
$7.99 

$8  to 
$8.99 

$9  to 
$9.99 

$10  to 
$11.99 

$12  & 
over 

Total 

Factory  45 
Factory  55 

31 

29 
2 

29 
2 

25 
6 

23 
29 

19 
34 

20 
19 

21 
13 

16 
3 

4 

217 
108 

Totals. . . 

31 

31 

31 

31 

52 

53 

39 

34 

19 

4 

325 

Of  the  325,  31  received  under  |3  per  week,  93  under  $5 
and  176  under  $7. 

Underwear  factory  No.  45  visited,  is  controlled  by  a  strong 
corporation.  It  is  on  the  seventh  floor  of  a  large  building  and 
employs  217  women,  the  walls  and  ceiling  are  white.  The 
material  piled  high  beside  the  machines  is  white.  Large  windows 
on  three  sides  permit  of  much  natural  light.  Electric  lights 
are  kept  burning  most  of  the  time.  Every  worker  at  the  ma- 
chines is  keyed  to  the  quickest  production.  She  moves  with  a 
nervous  tension  from  which  she  cannot  relax.  The  deadening 
noise  of  wheels,  the  clamp  of  button  stampers,  the  needles  being 


48] 


11 


driven  through  the  cloth,  the  whir  of  the  plaiting  machines  fill 
the  air  with  vibrations  which  make  conversations  difficult.  The 
girls  are  piece  workers.  No  lunch  room  is  provided.  The 
girls    eat   lunches   at   the   machines. 

Factory  No.  6  visited,  operated  301  days  a  year  and  em- 
ploys 217  women.  Thirty-one  receive  an  average  weekly 
wage  less  than  $3  and  work  from  1  to  48  days.  Eighty-nine 
receive  an  average  weekly  wage  less  than  $5  and  work  from 
1  to  301  days.  One  hundred  and  thirty-seven  receive  an  average 
wage  of  less  than  $7  and  work  from  one  to  301  days,  73  work 
less  than  25  days,  122  work  less  than  145  days,  and  29  work 
from  289  to  301   days. 

Factory  No.  55  visited  is  on  the  Consumers'  League  white 
list.  Conditions  are  good.  Only  silk  petticoats  are  made. 
The  workers  are  under  a  greater  strain  than  in  the  small  factories. 
The  factory  occupies  one  large  square  room  on  the  fifth  floor. 
There  is  an  office  and  small  rest  room  on  the  same  floor.  The 
machines  are  arranged  in  four  rows  across  the  room.  Workers 
are  paid  by  the  week.  The  raising  of  the  wage  rests  largely 
with  the  forewoman.  Payrolls  show  that  much  home  work 
is  done.  Payrolls  show  that  some  workers  work  seven  days 
a  week. 

Factory  No.  7  visited  had  108  employees  and  operated 
304  days.  None  of  the  employees  received  less  than  $3  a  week. 
Four  received  less  than  $5,  working  from  1  to  106  days  during 
the  year.  Thirty-nine  received  less  than  $7  working  from  1 
to  304  days.  Eleven  worked  less  than  25  days,  53  less  than 
145  days.  Two  for  a  period  of  267  to  282  days  and  2  for  304 
days. 


PAYROLLS   OF   FIVE    FACTORIES. 


EMPLOYEES    RECEIVING 

Under  $5.00. 

$5  to  $6.99. 

$7  to  $8.99. 

$9  and  over. 

Number  of 
factory. 

No. 

Percent. 

No. 

Percent. 

No. 

Percent. 

No. 

Percent. 

36 

9 
6 

20 
23.07 

10 
2 
3 

18 
18 

22.22 
7.69 
18.75 
16.51 
26.09 

11 

4 

4 

25 

29 

24.44 

15.38 

25 

22.93 

42.03 

15 
14 
9 
45 
18 

33.33 

24 

59.83 

40 

57.25 

45 

21 

4 

19.27 
5.67 

41.29 

55 

26.09 

12  [48 

Forty-four  women,  or  8.14  per  cent  of  the  total  number  for 
whom  the  payrolls  were  obtained  were  visited.  The  women 
visited  were  chosen  chiefly  on  account  of  their  low  wages. 
Only  7,  or  16  per  cent  of  the  44  were  adrift,  the  remaining  37 
being  girls  living  at  home  or  married  women  living  with  their 
children.  Four  of  the  44  were  married,  of  whom  2  were  widows 
and  2  had  separated  from  their  husbands;  the  remaining  40, 
or   90.9    per  cent    were   single. 

Sixteen  or  36.3  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  women  were 
of  German  parentage.  Two,  or  12.5  per  cent  were  born  in 
Germany,  the  remaining  14  were  born  in  the  United  States. 
Fourteen,  or  31.8  per  cent  were  native  Americans,  4  were  Russian 
Jews,  4  were  Bohemians,  2  were  Irish,  2  were  Roumanian  Jews. 
There  was  a  Polish  Jew  and  1  Hungarian.  Thirty-three,  or  75 
per  cent  of  the  total  number  were  under  24  years  of  age,  19,  or 
43  per  cent  were  under  20  years  of  age.  One  girl  began  w^ork 
at  the  age  of  13,  and  11,  or  25  per  cent  of  the  total  number, 
began  at  the  age  of  14.  One-half  of  the  number  began  work 
under  16  years  of  age,  and  10  were  16  years  old. 

The  average  weekly  wage  of  the  44  women  visited  was 
$6.03.  Thirty-four  received  an  average  weekly  wage  of  less 
than  $7,  13  less  than  $5.  The  average  yearly  earnings  were 
$263.82.  Twenty-eight  received  an  average  yearly  wage  less 
than  $300.  No  one  of  the  44  women  visited  received  as  much 
as  $400  per  year.  Four  could  neither  read  nor  write  and  had 
never  attended  school.  Of  these,  one  was  a  German,  one  a  Rus- 
sian Jewess,  and  2  Roumanian  Jewesses.  Twenty  had  attended 
school  eight  years  and  over.  Eight  had  been  at  school  6  years. 
One  had  worked  in  the  same  factory  12  years  and  is  now 
getting  an  average  weekly  wage  of  $6.  She  lives  with  a  married 
sister  whom  she  pays  $2.50  for  board.  Another  aged  36  averages 
$5  a  week  and  is  the  main  support  of  her  father  and  mother. 
A   married   sister   and   brother   help   her. 

Reports  from  190  factory  women  showed  160  are  single, 
20  are  married,  8  widows  and  2  separated.  Twenty-nine  out 
of  179  are  between  16  and  18  years  of  age.  The  average  age 
is  21.59  years,   the  oldest  being  59. 

Resolutions  have  been  adopted  by  various  organizations 
over  the  state  favoring  the  creation  of  a  minimum  wage  com- 
mission for  Missouri.  The  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs  has 
written  the  commission  that  it  is  anxious  to  aid  in  furthering 
the  measure   before  the   Legislature. 


48]  13 

Women  School  Teachers. 

Figures  submitted  to  the  commission  show  that  women 
school  teachers  throughout  the  state  are  greatly  underpaid. 
It  would  be  a  pity  if  they  were  to  be  omitted  in  the  considera- 
tion of  what  is  a  just  wage  for  women.  In  many  places  over  the 
state  they  are  earning  as  low  as  $5,  $6  and  $7  a  week  on  a  yearly 
basis.  Certainly  they  are  entitled  to  much  better  pay  if  they 
are   competent   to   teach   children. 

While  the  commission  was  sitting  in  St.  Louis  members 
of  the  Illinois  Wage  Commission  visited  the  Missouri  commission 
and  gave  splendid  aid  in  certain  lines  of  investigation,  particu- 
larly in  the  shoe  industry.  At  the  Kansas  City  meeting,  men 
and  %vomen  interested  in  the  betterment  of  working  girls  of 
Kansas,  attended  the  session  and  numerous  inquiries  have  been 
received  from  all  over  the  United  States  concerning  the  in- 
vestigation. 

Unemployment. 

The  question  of  unemployment  as  shown  by  figure  wherein 
presented  show: 

1.  Only  a  small  percentage  of  the  total  number  of  em- 
ployes \vork  over  eleven  months  per  year. 

2.  A  comparatively  large  group  are  included  as  casual 
workers,  that  is,  those  who  work  under  four  weeks  at  one  estab- 
lishment. 

3.  In  factories  where  a  system  of  keeping  the  number  of 
hours  worked  a  week  prevails,  the  limit  is  seldom,  if  ever, 
reached. 

4.  Where  a  time  rate  exists,  the  number  of  hours  lost 
per  week  reduces  the  wage  received  very  materially. 

5.  The  annual  wage  (which  represents  the  living  wage) 
depends  upon  the  control  of  unemployment  as  it  does  upon  the 
rate  of  pay  per  week. 

6.  Only  about  24.9  per  cent  of  all  workers  whose  payrolls 
were  secured  for  one  year  worked  the  full  time,  and  of  this 
number  the  annual  wage  in  nearly  all  cases  falls  in  the  $300 
and  $400  groups.    . 

Twenty-three  corporations  employ  91.18  per  cent  of  all 
female  help  on  the  men's  clothing  industry.  This  is  an  important 
fact  in  any  legislation  in  the  control  of  wages  both  as  to  the  kind 
of   legislative    enactment    as    well    as    method    of    enforcement, 


14  [48 

since  corporations  secure  their  right  of  existence  from  the 
state.  Pay  rolls  show  that  the  large  number  of  women  workers 
in  this  industry  receiving  under  $7  per  week  are  employed  by  these 
corporations.  In  this' number  are  included  63  girls  under  16 
years  of  age,  57  of  whom  receive  $5  per  week. 

There  is  a  direct  relation  between  the  employment  of 
women  and  organizing  as  a  corporation.  In  establishments 
employing  women  the  greater  the  number  of  employees  the 
greater  the  tendency  to  incorporate.  Corporations  pay  a  larger 
proportion  of  their  employes  under  $7  per  week  than  do  estab- 
lishments organized  as  individual  concerns  or  partnerships. 
The  welfare  of  women  in  this  industry,  therefore,  is  dependent 
upon  conditions  existing  in  the  corporations. 

Among  the  manufacturing  industries,  the  manufacturer 
of  men's  clothing  ranks  fifth  in  the  value  of  product  and  first 
in  the  number  of  women  employed.  In  the  manufacture  of 
women's  clothing,  the  number  of  women  employed  ranks 
third. 

It  is  the  large  establishments  which  will  be  most  directly 
affected  by  the  establishment  of  a  minimum  wage.  There  is 
practically  no  reason  why,  from  an  economic  standpoint,  a 
firm  employing  100  women  should  be  forced  to  underpay  its 
women  more  than  a  firm  employing  40  women.  It  is  this  class 
of  employers,  owning  medium-sized  establishments,  which  will 
either  become  more  efficient,  or  go  into  other  lines  of  work, 
or  drop  out  entirely  if  the  workers  are  organized  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  only  a  reasonable  amount  of  profit  is  realized. 
Concerning  these  smaller  establishments,  of  which  20  employed 
less  than  5  women  and  5  pay  all  their  women  less  than  $7, 
it  appears  that  these  are  the  establishments  which  are  the 
remains  of  the  domestic  system  and  only  by  underpaying 
are  they  able  to  compete  with  the  larger  factory.  And  if  this 
be  the  condition,  for  the  good  of  society,  it  would  be  better  that 
these  smaller  shops  be  eliminated. 

Conditions  in  Other  States. 

Your  commission  also  by  letter  made  inquiry  into  women's 
wage  conditions  in  other  states.  We  find  that  minimum  wage 
orders  are  in  effect  at  present  in  the  United  States,  in  Utah 
through  statute,  and  in  Washington,  Oregon,  Minnesota, 
Massachusetts,   through   the   orders   of  wage   boards   and   com- 


48]  15 

missions.  California  has  adopted  minimum  wage  legislation, 
but  the  law  is  not  yet  in  effect.  There  has  also  been  legislation 
looking  toward  a  minimum  wage  for  women  in  Michigan, 
New   York   and    Nebraska. 

The  Utah  scale  provides:  Minors  not  less  than  75  cents 
a  day;  apprentices  not  less  than  90  cents  per  day;  women  not 
less  than  $1.25  per  day. 

The  Washington  commission  has  ordered  a  minimum  wage 
as  follows:  For  mercantile  establishments,  $10;  factories, 
18.90;  laundry  and  telephones,  |9.  The  minimum  for  workers 
under  18  years  of  both  sexes  is  $6  in  all  industries. 

The  Oregon  commission  has  ordered  for  Portland  manu- 
facturing establishments  wages  of  $8.64  per  week  for  adult 
and  experienced  women;  $9.25  for  Portland  Mercantile  establish- 
ments; $40  per  month  for  Portland  office  workers;  and  $8.25 
for   all   the   industries   of   the   state. 

In  Minnesota  the  commission  issued  its  first  order  in 
November,  1914.  It  fixes  the  remuneration  of  women  of  ordinary 
ability  in  mercantile,  telephone  and  office  work  at  $9  a  week  in 
cities  of  the  first  class;  $8.50  in  cities  of  the  second,  third,  and 
fourth  classes;  and  $8  per  week  in  all  other  parts  of  the  state. 
In  manufacturing,  laundry  and  restaurant  work  the  rates  are 
25  cents  less  than  the  above  in  the  cities,  but  never  less  than 
$8  per  week.    The  constitutionality  of  the  law  has  been  attacked. 

The  only  Massachusetts  order  issued  applies  to  the  brush 
making  industry  and  fixes  the  minimum  wage  at  15  3^  cents  per 
hour,  with  a  rate  of  65  per  cent  of  this  figure  beginners.  This 
is  expected  to  yield  about  $8  per  week. 

The  National  Harvester  Company  has  fixed  a  minimum 
wage  of  $8  per  week  for  its  women  workers  in  Missouri.  The 
Montgomery  Ward  &  Co.,  a  mail  order  department  house, 
has  fixed    a   minimum  wage  of  $7.50  for  its  women  employes. 


.:■?■ 


5^  "-».» 


16  [48 


ST.  LOUIS  MEETINGS. 

The  first  session  of  the  commission  was  held  in  St.  Louis, 
May  20,  but  the  taking  of  testimony  did  not  begin  until  May  2L 
Witnesses  were  chosen  from  factory  and  store  without  regard 
to  a  studied  effort  to  obtain  the  highest  paid  or  the  lowest  paid 
girl. '  In  this  manner  a  splendid  average  of  wages  received  by 
girls  and  women  was  obtained.  Hearings  were  held  in  Parlor 
B,  Planters  Hotel.  Questions  were  asked  by  all  members  of 
the  commission  with  Senator  Michael  Kinney  as  Chairman. 
It  was  decided  to  withhold  the  names  of  girls  giving  testimony 
to  avoid  an^^  humiliation  attached  to  those  called  concerning 
wages   and   dress,   board,   etc. 

The  first  line  of  investigation  taken  up  was  into  the  nut- 
picking  industry  in  down-town  factories.  Miss  Mary  Bulkley, 
chairman  of  the  Industrial  Relations  Committee  of  the  Central 
Council   of    Social   Agencies   was   first   heard. 

Miss  Bulkley  said  the  nut  pickers — women  who  remove 
the  nut  kernels  from  the  shells — were  among  the  lowest  paid 
women  workers  in  St.  Louis.  Cash  girls  were  the  next  lowest 
paid. 

Miss  Bulkley  had  made  a  personal  investigation  only  into 
the  working  conditions  and  wages  of  the  scrub  women  in  the 
various  local  office  buildings.  All  her  other  information  was 
furnished  through  other  investigators.  She  said  the  scrub  women 
received  from  $20  to  $30  a  month  working  from  5  a.  m.  until 
9  a.  m.,  and  from  5  p.  m.  until  dark. 

They  are  forced,  she  said,  to  pay  20  cents  a  day  carfare, 
owing  to  their  split  hours,  and  were  away  from  home  in  the  morn- 
ing and  evening  during  the  hours  when  meals  were  prepared. 
Most  of  the  women  were  mothers,  she  said,  and  it  usually  fell 
upon  the  oldest  child  in  the  family  to  prepare  the  breakfast 
and  dinner  during  her  absence. 

Miss  Bulkley  urged  the  commission  to  take  up  an  investiga- 
tion into  the  wages  paid  the  telegraph  messenger  boys,  but  was 
told  that  the  scope  of  the  investigation  was  limited  to  women 
and    girls. 


48]  17 

Session  of  May  21. 

The  first  girl  worker  to  be  called  was  an  employee  of  the 
R.  M.  Funsten  Dried  Fruit  and  Nut  Company.  She  was 
designated  as  witness  "A." 

Witness  "A"  (single)  testified  she  had  been  employed  at 
Funsten's  a  year  and  a  half  and  her  average  earnings  had  been 
75  to  80  cents  a  day  until  she  became  an  expert,  after  which 
she  earned  $7  to  $9  weekly.  In  the  busy  season  she  said  she 
earned  $10  a  week.  The  surroundings  of  the  shop  were  all 
right,  she  said,  and  none  of  the  employes  had  any  fault  to  find 
on  that  score.  The  price  for  picking  nuts  previous  to  Christmas 
is  9  to  11  cents  per  pound.  After  Christmas  it  is  cut  to  8  cents. 
She  lives  at  home.  She  was  unable  to  give  an  estimate  of  her 
expenses,  or  the  cost  of  her  clothing,  or  the  amount  of  her 
savings. 

Witness  "B"  (married)  from  the  Funsten  concern  said  she 
could  support  herself  on  $8  or  $9  a  week,  though  it  depended 
largely  on  "how  the  girls  wanted  to  dress"  as  to  their  living  ex- 
penses.    She   received   help   from   her   husband. 

Witness  "C"  (single)  said  she  averaged  $10  a  week  at  the 
Funsten  plant.  She  lived  with  her  parents,  but  declared  she 
could  support  herself  on  $5  a  week  and  dress  as  well  as  she  wanted 
to  dress.  She  ate  ten  cent  lunches  down  town,  and  spent  but 
40  cents  for  her  Saturday  night  and  Sunday  meals  at  home. 
She  lived  20  blocks  from  the  factory  and  seldom  used  the  street 
cars. 

"But  all  working  girls  can't  live  as  cheap  as  I  do,"  she  said. 
"Some  of  them  want  finer  clothes." 

E.  M.  Funsten,  vice-president  of  the  R.  M.  Funsten  Dried 
Fruit  and  Nut  Company,  was  the  first  employer  to  testify. 
He  said  his  firm  employs  between  300  and  500  girls  and  women 
to  pick  pecan  nuts  all  the  year  round.  The  employees  are  paid 
by  the  piece  and  their  earnings  depend  upon  their  dexterity 
in  extracting  the  kernels  whole.  Broken  kernels  are  not  paid 
for.      The   price   paid   is   8   cents   a   pound. 

In  answer  to  Senator  Wilson  he  said  employes  earn  as  high 
as  $15  and  $20  a  week  in  the  busy  season,  but  he  could  not  furnish 
the  names  of  those  earning  that  amount.  The  lowest  earnings 
was  $3  a  week.  The  average  earnings,  between  $8  and  $9. 
A  good  many  earned  not  more  than  $4. 

48 — 2 


18  [48 

"The  girls  that  earn  34  a  week,"  asked  Senator  Wilson, 
"do  they  live  at  home  or  do  they  board?" 

"I  don't  know." 

"Don't  you   ask  them  where  they  live  or  how?" 

"No,  it  is  nothing  to  us  where  they  live  or  how  they  spend 
their  money.  We  employ  them  to  pick  nuts  and  pay  them 
what  they  earn." 

"You  are  not  concerned  with  the  surroundings  or  the 
welfare  of  the  girls  who  work  for  these  wages?" 

"No.  It  is  their  labor  we  are  after.  We  have  no  time  to 
inquire    into    their    mode    of    living." 

"You  regard  them  simply  as  human  machines,  whose  labor 
you  buy  at  so  much  per  week?" 

"Well,  we  have  no  time  to  look  up  the  records  or  the  cir- 
cumstances of  all  the  girls  we  employ.  We  look  only  after  their 
efficiency  in  the  work  we  want  them  to   do." 

Mr.  Funsten  said  that  no  girl  earned  as  low  as  31.50  or  32 
a  week.     There  is  only  one  woman  who  earns  as  low  as  33. 

Mrs.  Harry  January,  secretary  of  the  St.  Louis  Consumers 
League  said  she  had  made  a  study  of  working  conditions  in 
factories  and  shops  in  St.  Louis,  and  had  found  them  good  in 
general. 

Some  houses,  she  said,  provided  good  surroundings,  fair 
wages,  and  a  moral  atmosphere  for  their  employes.  It  was 
not  alone  the  small  houses  in  which  small  wages  and  bad  moral 
and  sanitary  conditions  prevailed,  she  said.  Nor  was  it  in  the 
large  establishments  that  the  better  wages  a  nd  conditions  of 
work  prevailed.  Good  conditions  were  found  in  one  shop, 
and  in  another  alongside,  the  opposite  would  be  found.  She 
said  the  lowest  paid  class  of  help  in  St.  Louis  was  the  cash  girl, 
and  her  successor  in  large  houses,  the  register  girl.  In  some 
places  these  are  paid  as  low  as  32.50  a  week. 

As  a  rule,  she  found  the  factory  paid  better  wages  than  the 
shop.  A  comparison  of  wages  in  St.  Louis  and  those  in  other 
cities,  she  said,  revealed  that  St.  Louis  was  not  behind  in  women's 
wages.     In  New  York  the  women  are  paid  less  than  in  St.  Louis. 

Mrs.  January  preferred  not  to  mention  specific  instances 
of  houses  here  in  which  women  are  paid  smaller  wages  than  she 
thought  they  should  be,  and  in  which  their  surroundings  were 
not  up   to  the  standard,   physically  and   morally. 

In  one  instance,  she  said,  a  house,  by  the  installation  of 
an   educational   secretary  to   educate   the   women    employes   to 


48]  '  19 

greater  efficiency  in  their  work,  had  so  increased  their  standard 
of  efficiency  that  it  raised  the  wages  of  its  employes  an  average 
of  50  cents  per  week. 

Mrs.  Kate  Richards  O'Hare,  3955  Castleman  Avenue, 
magazine  writer  on  social  service  working,  testified  that  a  mere 
existence  wage  for  girls  was  approximately  $8  a  week.  She 
had  made  actual  tests  as  a  waitress  in  restaurants,  and  in  packing 
houses,  telephone  companies,  department  stores  and  other 
places. 

Mrs.  O'Hare  told  the  commission  the  wages  paid  cash 
girls  to  begin  with  in  large  stores  is  $2.50  per  week,  wrapping 
girls  $3.50  per  week  and  cashier^  $4  to  $6  a  week. 
Girls  in  five  and  ten  cent  stores  were  usually  paid  $4.50  and 
never  more  than  $6  per  week,  she  said.  Waitresses  made  more 
money  because  they  had  their  tips  added  to  their  salary. 

Packing  houses  paid  the  lowest,  starting  at  $2.50  per  week. 

Mrs.  O'Hare  estimated  modest  clothing  for  working  girls 
at  $80  per  year  not  including  laundry.  She  itemized  the  clothing 
account   as   follows: 

4  Pairs  of  shoes  a  year $12.00 

2  Hats,  $5  each 10 .  00 

2  Suits  clothes,  $12.50  each 25 .  00 

Underwear 6 .  00 

Corsets 3 .  00 

Stockings 2 .  00 

Miscellaneous  articles,  soap,  toilet  perfumes,  etc 4.00 

Gloves 4 .  00 

Coat,  which  lasts  two  years 20.00 

Board  or  light  housekeeping  in  comfortable  places  costs 
$5.00  per  week.  Mrs.  O'Hare  made  the  statement  that  a  young 
girl  would  get  so  tired  of  living  alone,  and  cooking  her  own  meals, 
that  in  six  months  she  would  get  in  such  a  condition  that  she 
could  not  eat  and  her  health  would  fail.  She  declared  that 
for  a  young  girl  to  have  the  proper  environment,  taking  into 
consideration  her  spiritual  and  mental  welfare,  it  would  require 
at  least  $9.50  per  week,  and  if  she  laid  aside  money  for  sickness, 
$10  was  the  minimum. 

A  woman  40  years  old  employed  at  the  Paris  Medicine 
Company  at  $5  a  week,  testified  that  she  and  her  mother,  a 
widow,  bought  all  their  provisions  and  what  clothes  they  had 
to  wear  on  her  wages,  after  deducting  60  cents  a  week  from  the 
$5  for  carfare.  She  explained  her  mother  owned  the  home 
where  they  lived  and  raised  vegetables  in  a  garden.  She  esti- 
mated the  lowest  wage  on  which  a  girl  could  live  at  $9  a  week. 


20  •  [48 

Two  other  girls  employed  by  the  Paris  Medicine  Company 
testified  that  they  were  paid  |4.50  per  week  and  lived  at  home 
with  their  parents.  They  declared  that  they  could  not  live 
on  that  amount  if  compelled  to  pay  board.  One  of  the  girls 
said  she  had  at  least  two  suits  a  year  costing  $22.50  each. 

Session  of  May  22. 

E.  M.  Funsten,  vice-president  of  the  R.  E.  Funsten  Dried 
Fruit  and  Nut  Company,  who  testified  May  21,  appeared  with 
his  pay  rolls  for  six  months.  These  pay  rolls  showed  his  em- 
ployes earned  an  average  of  $8.80  a  week  during  that  period. 

Lieut.  Gov.  Painter  asked  Mr.  Funsten  what  dividends  his 
corporation  paid  last  year,  and  Mr.  Funsten  refused  to  answer. 

Mr.  Funsten  denied  the  statement  made  by  Miss  Bulkley 
that  nutpickers  were  the  poorest  paid  class  of  help  in  the  city. 
He  said  his  pay  rolls  were  evidence  of  the  falsity  of  that  charge. 
He  said  his  employes  are  the  best  paid  of  any  similar  establish- 
ment in  the  country. 

Otto  Moser,  president  of  the  Moser  Cigar  and  Paper  Box 
Company,  employing  150  girls  making  paper  boxes,  gave  his 
average  wage  as  $7.60  per  week.  Wages  of  his  girl  employes 
are  fixed  by  competition.  He  offered  to  increase  wages  provided 
his  competitors  would  do  the  same.  Girls  are  paid  for  piece 
work. . 

Moser's  salary  is  $6200  a  year;  that  of  his  son  $1800.  This 
is  the  total  profits  of  the  company  which  is  capitalized  at  $12,000. 
He  estimated  his  present  plant  worth  between  $35,000  and 
$40,000,  having  grown  from  $12,000  to  its  present  value  in  39 
years.  His  company  is  a  "family  affair,"  with  no  outside 
stockholders. 

"Then  your  annual  salary  is  equal  to  the  pay  of  100  of  your 
girl  employes  for  ten  weeks?"  asked  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter  of  the 
commission. 

"Something  like  that,"   Moser  replied. 

Moser  Said  that  some  employes  had  been  working  in  his 
factory  25  years. 

"Of  course,  some  of  the  older  ones  get  so  old  that  they  are 
not  as  fast  as  when  they  began,"  Moser  explained.  "It  takes 
the  young  ones  to  make  the  biggest  wages.  Some  of  the  fastest 
girls  make  as  high  as  $14  and  $15  a  week.  We  start  the  girls  at 
$4  a  week,  but  they  are  little  things  and  it  takes  them  about 
six  months  to  earn  more.     All  our  girls  live  at  home.     The  av- 


48]  21 

erage  wage  is  about  $7.60,  not  counting  the  little  girls  who  are 
learning." 

Moser  said  at  one  time  he  employed  girls  at  25  cents  a  day. 
He  pays  about  $1   now.     His  salary  39  years  ago  was  $1000. 

"Then  your  increase  in  pay  is  out  of  proportion  to  what  you 
have  been  paying  your  employes.  You  are  making  money  a 
great  deal  faster  than  they  are  in  proportion,  aren't  you'?' 
asked   Lieut.   Gov.   Painter. 

"Well,  I'm  not  in  the  business  for  my  health.  I  am  in  it  to 
make  as  much  money  as  I  can." 

"How  do  you  arrive  at  the  fact  that  the  girls'  services  are 
worth  only  $4  a  week  when  they  begin?  How  do. you  determine 
how  much  to  pay  these  girls  by  the  piece,  so  they  will  earn  $7 
or   $8   a   week?" 

"Well  we  figure  what  the  machines  will  do  when  working  at 
their  capacity  and  what  the  price  is  to  be  when  we  sell  our  goods. 
I  don't  know  whether  the  wages  are  right  or  wrong.  Our  prices 
seem  to  be  the  practice  here  in  St.  Louis." 

"What  do  you  figure  is  the  living  wage  for  a  girl?" 

"Oh,  $7,  $8  or  $9  a  week  is  good  enough.  I  could  live  on 
that." 

Moser  said  that  he  formerly  tried  to  fine  the  girls  for  spoil- 
ing boxes  in  the  making,  but  had  to  abandon  this,  as  the  girls 
quit   him. 

Henry  C.  Haeckel,  manager  National  Candy  Company's 
paper  box  factory  testified  he  paid  beginners  $5  a  week.  He 
presented  a  statement  showing  the  pay  to  be  from  $8  to  $12 
weekly.     Girls  work  nine  hours  a  day. 

Four  girls  testified  they  earned  from  $10  to  $14  weekly  in 
the  National  factory.     All  were  stylishly  dressed. 

Two  young  women,  employed  by  the  Moser  Paper  Box 
Company,  said  they  were  well  pleased  with  their  positions,  had 
comfortable  surroundings  and  were  making  $13  and  $14  a  week. 
Both  lived  with  their  parents.     They  began  at  $4.50  a  week. 

One  of  the  girls  employed  by  the  National  Company  said 
she  made  $5  a  week  when  she  first  began.  She  said  she  had  to 
work  steady  to  make  $10  a  week. 

Another  National  Company  girl  said  she  earned  an  average 
of  $9.15  a  week,  all  of  which  she  turned  into  the  family  treasury. 
She  had  been  with  the  company  for  three  years. 

Women  employed  as  dish  washers  at  the  City  Club  are  forced 
to  walk  from  their  homes  at  Twentieth  and  Wash  Streets  and 


22  [48 

Twelfth  Street  and  Cass  Avenue  to  the  City  Club  at  Ninth 
and  Locust  Streets,  because  their  wages  are  not  sufficient  to 
allow  them  to  pay  carfare. 

Two  women  testified  that  they  worked  from  8  o'clock  in 
the  morning  to  5  in  the  afternoon  for  $5  a  week,  and  when 
called  upon  to  work  extra  time  at  banquest,  from  5  to  9  in  the 
evening,  received  only  50  cents  extra. 

One  woman  gets  up  before  6  in  the  morning  to  cook  break- 
fast at  home  and  prepare  four  children  for  school,  and  cooks 
their  supper  when  she  reaches  home  in  the  afternoon.  Both 
are  married. 

Floyd  J.  ^loan,  manager  of  the  City  Club  testified  that  he 
employed  about  11  women  and  the  average  wage  was  about  $30 
a   month,   including  two   meals. 

Sloan  said  the  lowest  wages  paid  was  $5  a  week  to  the  women 
washing  dishes  and  the  amount  was  the  uniform  wage  paid  by 
other  restaurants  and  clubs.  He  said  the  highest  wage  paid  to 
women  employes  was  $40  a  month  for  chief  pastry  cook.  He 
declared  the   City  Club  was  not  a  money-making  institution. 

Mr.  Sloan  estimated  a  girl's  living  wage  to  be  about  $7.50 
a  week.  To  Senator  Wilson's  questions  that  he  gave  no  thought 
to  the  girls'  social  conditions,  he  said  he  was  interested  in  their 
welfare  sufficiently  to  help  them  out  if  they  would  ask  them  and 
he  thought  they  needed  assistance. 

"Well,  the  fact  is,"  replied  Senator  Wilson,  "you  look  upon 
the  girls  merely  as  human  machines  to  carry  out  the  labors  of 
the  day." 

"That's  about  it,  I  suppose." 

"Well,  if  you  could  get  a  girl  in  the  kitchen  for  25  cents  a 
day  would  you  employ  her?" 

"No.  I  don't  think  that  would  be  right,  as  she  would  be 
capable  of  earning  more.  We  pay  what  we  imagine  the  work  is 
worth." 

Witness  said  that  he  did  not  pay  his  employes  every  Sat- 
urday night,  because  they  seemed  satisfied  with  the  twice  a 
month  plan.  He  said  he  saw  no  reason  why  the  members  of  the 
City  Club  couldn't  pay  55  cents  for  their  lunch  instead  of  50 
cents,  and  let  the  extra  5  cents  go  as  increased  wages  to  the 
kitchen  girls.  Men  employes  had  asked  for  an  increase  in 
wages,  but  the  girls  had  never  done  so. 

Six  girls  from  the  Kresge  5  and  10  cent  store  testified  they 
lived  at  home  and  turned  over  their  wages  to  the  family.     Two 


48]  23 

of  the  girls  lived  in  East  St,  Louis  and  another  in  St.  Louis 
County,  and  paid  $1.20  a  week  carfare.  They  received  from 
$4.50  to  $6  a  week  wages. 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "How  long  do  you  work 
daily?" 

"I  go  to  work  at  8.15  in  the  morning  with  three  quarters  of 
an  hour  for  lunch,  and  quit  at  6  o'clock  at  night.  Saturdays  I 
work  until  6.30. 

"Doesn't  the  store  close  at  noon   Saturdays?" 

"No  sir." 

"Do  you  pay  board?" 

"No  sir,  I  take  all  of  the  money  I  get,  and  give  it  to  my 
mother." 

"Are  you  married?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"How  much  do  you  consider  your  board  is  worth?" 

"About  $3  a  week,  I  think." 

"How  much  do  your  clothes  cost  you?" 

"Maybe  $50  a  year.     I  guess  about  $1  a  week." 

"If  you  had  to  pay  for  your  room  what  would  it  cost  you?" 

"One  dollar,    maybe    $1.50." 

"Had  you  rather  work  in  a  store  than  in  a  factory?" 

"Yes,  it  is  cleaner  and  better  work." 

Another  5  and  10-cent  store  employe  testified  that  she  gives 
her  mother  $3  a  week  for  board. 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "How  much  do  you  spend 
for  clothes?" 

"I  don't  know  exactly,  but  I  think  about  $3  a  week." 

"Do    you    buy   your    own    clothes?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"How  much  are  you  paid  weekly?" 

"I  get  $4.50." 

"Is  the  work  hard?" 

"Not  very.  You  have  to  be  quick.  On  Mondays,  Wed- 
nesdays  and    Saturdays   the   work   is   heavier." 

One  married  woman,  wife  of  a  laborer,  said  her  board  cost 
her  about  $3  a  week,  clothing  $1,  carfare  $1.20,  house  rent,  $2.00. 
Her  wages  are  $6  a  week,  the  highest  paid  in  the  store.  Her 
husband's  wages  go  to  make  up  the  weekly  deficit. 

Another  girl  living  in  St.  Louis  County  received  $4.50  a 
week.  She  lives  with  her  parents,  but  pays  $3.00  a  week  board. 
Her  carfare  costs  her  $1.20  a  week,  and  her  clothes  $3.00  a  week. 


24  [48 

A  third  girl  examined  from  Kresge's  received  $5.00  a  week. 
She  has  two  brothers  and  two  sisters  all  working.  She  turns 
in  her  wages  to  the  family. 

Witness  No.  18  was  ashamed  to  tell  what  she  received  from 
the  ten-cent  store  as  wages.  "We  girls  don't  tell  one  another 
how  much  we  get",  she  told  the  commission.  "I  get  $5  now, 
but   I   used   to   get   only   $4." 

Witness  No.  19  had  been  employed  at  Kresge's  four  weeks. 
It  was  the  first  job  she  ever  had. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "How  much  do  you  get?" 

"Four  dollars  a  week  but  my  sister  gets  $7  a  week." 

J.  F.  Lang,  manager  of  the  Paris  Medicine  Company  sub- 
mitted his  payrolls  that  showed  several  girls  to  be  earning  §4  a 
week. 

"What  do  these  girls  do?"  asked  Senator  Wilson. 

"They  are  mostly  beginners,"  said  Lang.  "They  pack 
medicine  in  bottles." 

"Do  you  ask  them  if  they  can  support  themselves  on  $4  a 
week?" 

"It  is  not  our  business  to  inquire  how  much  they  live  on." 

"Do  you  think  a  girl  can  support  herself  on  $4.00  a  week?" 

"I  don't  pay  any  attention  to  that  feature  of  it.  Four 
dollars  is   all  we  can  afford  to  pay  for  what  they  do." 

"You  just  hire  them  for  the  least  you  can  get  girls  for?" 

"No,  we  could  get  plenty  of  girls  for  less,  but  we  fix  $4  as 
the  lowest  figure.  Most  of  our  girls  average  $6.00  a  week,  count- 
ing the  extra  wages  we  pay  them  twice  a  year." 

"Can   they   support   themselves   on   that?" 

"Some  of  them  can.     Some  of  them  can't,   I  suppose." 

Lang  estimated  that  a  girl  ought  to  support  herself  on  $5.50 
a  week.  ' 

"How  much  would  it  cost  a  girl  for  room  rent?"  asked 
Chairman    Kinney. 

Lang  showed  impatience  and  refused  to  answer. 

"I   would  like  an  answer,"   said   Chairman   Kinney. 

"The   question   is   not   fair,"   replied   Lang. 

"Then  you  refuse  to  answer?" 

"I  do,"  said  Lang. 

One  scrub  woman  at  a  department  store  testified  that  she 
worked  from  8.30  a.  m.  to  6  p.  m.  for  S5  a  week,  and  was  given 
coffee  and  rolls  at  11  o'clock  and  dinner  at  3  p.  m.  Her  husband 
worked  part  of  the  time.     They  are  nearly  always  in  debt,  she 


48]  25 

said.  Out  of  her  wages  she  paid  25c  a  month  for  medical  aid. 
She  lives  close  in  and  saves  carfare.  It  developed  that  this  is 
the  average  paid  scrub   women  in  department  stores. 

Witnesses  testified  that  25  cents  per  month  is  taken  from 
the  wages  of  girls  employed  at  Schaper  Bros,  department  store. 
The  first  girl  testified  that  she  started  in  at  $4.50  a  week  and  was 
told  that  her  sales  would  be  raised  according  to  what  was  sold. 
She  reported  that  many  never  received  the  benefit  of  an  increase 
for  increased  sales. 

Lieut.  Gov.  Painter  asked  her  if  a  physician  was  maintained 
at  the  store.  She  replied  that  she  was  so  informed,  but  never 
had  seen  him  and  never  had  been  ill. 

Another  employe  of  Schaper  Bros,  testified  she  started  at 
$3.50  per  week  and  at  the  end  of  two  years  was  receiving  $5.50 
a  week.  She  also  said  25  cents  a  month  was  deducted  from  her 
wages  for  a  sick  benefit.  Her  lunches  cost  her  $1  a  week,  carfare 
60  cents. 

A  girl  called  from  Schaper  Bros.,  said  she  worked  there  six 
weeks  for  $4.00  a  week,  and  liked  the  place.  She  worked  at  a 
box  factory  before  she  went  to  Schapers  and  she  liked  the  store 
better  than  the  factory. 

"I  used  to  get  25  cents  for  folding  down  1000  boxes,"  she 
said. 

Lieut.  Gov.  Painter  asked,"  Are  there  any  stools  behind  the 
counters  at  Schapers  where  you  can  sit  down  and  rest?" 

"Yes." 

"Are  you  warned  against  using  them?" 

"No,  sir." 

"Are  you  assessed  for  any  benefits?" 

"Yes,  they  take  25  cents  a  month  out  of  my  pay  every  month 
for  a  doctor." 

"Would  you  rather  work  in  a  store  than  in  a  factory?" 

"Yes." 

Another  girl  called  had  worked  at  Schaper  Bros,  two  years. 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "How  much  did  they  pay 
you  when  you  began?" 

Answer:  "I   got  $3.50,   but  they  pay  me  $5.50  now." 

Question:   "Do   you   bring   your   lunch?" 

Answer:  "No,  I  eat  lunch  at  the  store,  it  costs  me  20  cents 
a  day." 

Question:  "Are  you  permitted  to  rest,  by  sitting  back  of  the 
counter?" 


26  [48 

Answer:  "They  tell  us  that  it  is  unbusinesslike,  and  don't 
want  us  to  do  it." 

She  said  she  was  working  at  14  years  of  age  as  a  cash  girl  at 
Nugents,  and  they  paid  her  $2.50  a  week. 

"They  took  25  cents  a  month  out  of  our  pay  for  a  doctor," 
she  said. 

An  elderly  woman  employed  to  clean  up  in  the  dining  room 
at  Schapers  said  she  received  $5  a  week,  and  is  supporting  her- 
self and  husband  on  that  sum. 

"I  used  to  get  two  good  meals  a  day  when  I  worked  for  the 
Grand  Leader,"  she  said,  "but  now,  I  get  a  lunch  and  one  good 
meal." 

A  girl  from  Plow's  Candy  factory  testified  she  started  in 
at  $3.50  a  week  and  after  two  years  was  receiving  $5.50  a  week. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "What  work  do  you  do?" 

Answer:  "I  work  in  the  'Honey  Boy'  department.  I  used 
to  work  piece  work,  getting  about  $7  a  week.  The  girls  in  the 
fme  chocolates  get  from  $7  to  $9  a  week. 

Question:    "Do   you    make   enough    to    support   yourself?" 

Answer:  "No,   I   don't  think  I   do." 

Question:  "Could  you  keep  a  little  home  on  that?" 

Answer:    "No,     I    could  not." 

Question:  "Do  you  expect  to  marry  a  man  who  can  support 
you?" 

Answer:  "I  hope  he  makes  more  than  $11  a  week,  whoever 
he    is." 

Another  girl  from  Plow's  who  had  been  married,  testified: 

"If  mother  did  not  help  take  care  of  me  and  my  baby,  I 
could  not  live  at  all.     She  helps  me,  and  I  give  her  all  I  earn." 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "How  much  do  you  make?" 

Answer:   "$6   a  week." 

A  girl  from  Blanke-Wennaker  Candy  Company  estimated  a 
living  wage  for  women  at  $8. 

Question  by  Senator  Cates:  "How  much  do  you  get?" 

Answer:  "I  receive  $5.50  per  week." 

An  employe  of  the  Moser  Paper  Box  factory  testified  she 
earned  from  $6  to  $7  a  week  on  piece  work. 

Question  by  Senator  Cates:  "How  much  does  it  cost  you  to 
live?" 

Answer:  "I  pay  my  sister-in-law  $3.50  a  week,  and  help  her 
a  little  with  the  work,  when  I  am  not  too  tired." 

Question:  "How  much  do  you  spend  for  carfare?" 


48]  27 

Answer:   "Nothing.     I   cannot   afford   to   spend   a   nickel." 

Question:  "How  far  do  you  walk?" 

Answer:  "It  takes  me  nearly  an  hour  to  get  to  work." 

She  testified  that  she  had  worked  at  the  Peters  Shoe  Factory 
where  she  had  received  $3.50  per  week. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "Why  did  you  leave  school?" 

Answer:  "Why,  I  had  to  quit  and  go  to  work." 

Question:  "How  much  could  you  live  on?" 

Answer:  "About  $9  a  week,  I  think." 

A  14-year  old  girl  employed  in  the  same  box  factory  de- 
clared she  had  quit  a  place  in  a  lamp  factory  and  come  to  work 
in  the  box  factory  because  labeling  bulbs  in  the  lamp  factory  was 
ruining  her  eyes. 

"You  have  to  look  right  into  the  lamp  and  then  you  turn  it 
off  and  you  are  in  the  dark,"  she  explained,  "And  then  when  the 
light  comes  on  again,  your  eyes  hurt."  It's  lucky  we  don't  get 
sick  very  often,  for  we  don't  make  enough  to  pay  for  medicine." 

A  girl  from  the  Hohlman  Paper  Box  factory  testified  that 
she  got  as  low  as  $3  a  week. 

A  girl  from  the  St.  Louis  paper  box  factory  said  she  made 
from  $3.60  to  $5  a  week.  The  week  of  May  20th,  1913,  she  made 
$4.70.  She  is  14  years  old,  and  has  lived  with  her  sister-in-law 
since  her  parents  died,  a  year  before  she  started  to  work.  She 
has  to  walk  to  work,  because  she  does  not  make  enough  to  afford 
carfare. 

Another  girl  at  the  same  factory  started  work  and  after  a 
year  and  a  half  was  making  $6.75  a  week. 

Girls  employed  in  the  soddering  department  of  the  Schleuter 
Can  Company,  testified  they  was  able  to  make  from  $6.00  to 
$7.00  a  week.  One  girl  testified  she  lived  away  from  home.  She 
said  she  bought  her  clothes  on  the  installment  plan,  paying  50 
cents  a  week.     She  lived  on  her  income,  she  declared. 

Dr.  Geo.  B.  Mangold,  director  of  the  school  of  Social  Econo- 
my at  Washington  University,  appeared  before  the  commission 
and  said  there  are  two  organized  boarding  houses  in  St.  Louis. 
At  one,  board  and  room  is  $5  a  week,  and  at  the  other,  $5  a  week 
for  one  girl  in  a  room,  and  $3.75  for  2  girls  in  a  room.  He  said 
that  investigation  showed  him  that  good  board  and  room  could 
not  be  secured  for  less   money. 

Session  of  May  23. 
Girls  from  the  department  stores  were  called  in  during  the 


28  [48 

forenoon  session,  and  in  the  afternoon  laundry  workers  were 
heard. 

An  orphan  14  years  old,  bundle  wrapper  at  Penny  &  Gentles 
department  store  told  of  living  with  an  aunt  who  was  forced  to 
help  her,  as  her  salary  of  $3.50  a  week  only  paid  her  board. 

Another  bundle  wrapper  at  Penny  &  Gentles  testified  she 
received  $2.50  a  week  which  she  gave  her  mother.  She  was 
forced  to  quit  school  on  account  of  the  illness  of  her  mother  and 
go  to  work.     She  walked  to  the  store. 

A  woman  of  22  employed  at  Penny  &  Gentles  testified  she 
received  $6  a  week  salary,  and  extra  money  for  selling  what  is 
called  P.  M.'s  or  old  stock.  The  extra  money  made  her  from 
$1.50  to  $2  a  week.  She  testified  she  and  her  sister  roomed 
together  and  she  lived  on  her  wages.  An  income  from  her  home 
town  in  Illinois  provided  part  of  her  clothes,  however.  She 
estimated  her  living  cost  her  $8  per  week. 

A  woman  24  years  old,  buyer  for  the  fancy  goods  department 
at  Penny  &  Gentles  testified  she  received  $10  a  week  and  lived 
with  her  parents. 

Girls  in  other  departments,  employed  as  salesladies,  re- 
ceived about  $6  a  week  besides  their  P.  M.'s  she  said.  During 
the  holidays,  girls  received  as  much  as  $3  and  $4  a  week  on 
P.  M.'s,  and  about  $1.50  a  week  at  other  times. 

She  testified  that  bundle  wrappers  received  from  $3.50  to 
$4  a  week.  She  denied  that  the  company  took  out  a  monthly 
allowance  for  sick  benefit.  When  asked  what  time  the  girls 
had  to  sew,  she  replied,  "On  Sundays." 

A  girl  employed  at  Nugent's  store  receiving  $6  a  week, 
testified  that  she  sold  over  $140  worth  of  goods  a  week.  She 
was  allowed  3  cents  on  the  dollar.  She  said  20  cents  a  month 
was  taken  out  of  her  wages  for  sick  benefit.  She  had  been  ill  a 
great  deal  and  had  been  at  the  hospital  three  weeks.  During 
her  illness  the  company  paid  her  $10  from  the  benefit  fund.  She 
estimated  she  could  live  on  $8  a  week. 

A  laundry  worker  testified  she  was  employed  on  the  lower 
floor  where  the  steam  heating,  drying  and  ironing  machines  are 
located.  Her  hours  are  from  7:30  to  5  with  30  minutes  for 
lunch.  Her  wages  are  $5  a  week.  She  and  her  brother  keep 
house. 

Question  by  Senator  Kinney:   "Is  the   work  hard." 

Answer:  "Yes,  in  the- summer  it  is  a  common  thing  for  girls 
to  faint." 


48]  29 

Question:  "How  often  have  you  seen  this  happen?" 

Answer:  "Sometimes  every  day,  sometimes  twice  or  three 
times.     I    myself   have   fainted    several   times." 

Question:  "What  is  done  for  girls  who  faint?" 

Answer:  "They  are  carried  to  a  room  and  laid  on  a  lounge. 
If  they  recover  they  go  back  to  work.  If  they  are  not  able  to  go 
back  to  work  the  company  sends  a  girl  home  with  them." 

Question:  "Is  there  a  doctor  provided?" 

Answer:  "I  never  saw  one." 

Question:  "Are  the  girls  docked  for  the  lost  time  when  they 
faint." 

Answer:  "They  lose  the  time  they  are  away  at  home,  of 
course.  If  they  are  away  too  often  they  lose  their  place,  as 
the  company  thinks  they  cannot  do  the  work." 

Question:  "Could  you  live  on  your  wages  without  outside 
help?" 

Answer:  "No,  no  girl  can  live  on  that  amount  by  herself." 

Question:  "What  does  it  cost  you  to  dress?" 

Answer:  "Very  little.  I  cannot  afford  style.  I  pay  $2 
for  shoes  twice  a  year,  $9  or  |10  for  a  suit  once  a  year,  and  buy 
a   skirt   or   waist   occasionally   to   help   out.     Hats   cost   most." 

Question:  "How  do  the  girls  who  have  no  homes  live  on  the 
wages  they  earn  then?" 

Answer:  "Most  of  the  girls  get  their  clothes  on  credit. 
They  wouldn't  get  anything  if  they  didn't.  That  is  as  far  as 
I  can  go." 

Question:  "Is  there  a  system  of  fines  in  the  laundry?" 

Answer:  "No,  but  they  hold  back  a  week's  wages  when  you 
start.  One  girl  who  was  living  at  the  Home  for  Girls  was  unable 
to  go  to  work  in  my  laundry  on  account  of  this  rule.  She  could 
not  afTord  to  go  two  weeks  without  her  wages.  They  pay  you 
that  week's  wages  when  you  quit  them." 

A  slender  pale  young  woman,  the  mother  of  a  two-year  old 
baby  who  had  been  deserted  by  her  husband,  testified  that  she 
was  existing  with  her  child  on  $4  a  week.  She  is  a  laundry  work- 
er. 

An  employe  at  Munger's  Laundry  declared  that  girls  fre- 
quently faint  from  excessive  heat,  and  were  laid  on  tables  by 
the  other  girls,  and  would  sometimes  lie  there  for  an  hour  or 
more  before  they  were  revived  sufficiently  to  go  to  w^ork. 

One  girl,  she  said,  was  left  on  a  table  for  three  hours.  No 
physician  was  called. 


30  [48 

She  testified  she  earned  $11  a  week  working  by  the  piece. 
She  said  the  laundry  paid  her  $1  a  hundred  for  shirts  and  she 
finished  200  a  day. 

Out  of  her  wages  she  paid  $3.60  room  rent,  20  cents  for 
breakfast,  20  cents  for  luncheon  and  25  cents  for  supper. 

Another  girl  from  Munger's,  14  years  old,  testified  she  re- 
ceived $3.80  a  week,  and  out  of  that  she  gave  her  mother  $3  a 
week  for  board  and  had  80  cents  to  clothe  herself. 

She  said  she  never  went  to  the  parks  on  Sunday  because  of 
not  having  carfare.  She  said  her  father  and  mother  had  been 
sick  much  of  the  time.  Her  father  was  not  able  to  hold  steady 
employment  on  account  of  sickness.  She  exhibited  a  suit  of 
clothes  she  was  buying  on  the  time-payment  plan,  paying  $1 
down  and  50  cents  a  week. 

A  bundle  wrapper  at  the  American  Steam  Laundry,  16 
years  old,  receiving  $5.95  a  week,  testified  that  during  the  sum- 
mer months,  girls  at  that  institution  often  fainted  at  the  fold- 
ing and  wrapping  tables.  She  remembered  six  girls  who  had 
been  overcome  by  the  heat  in  one  summer.  No  emergency  hos- 
pital is  provided  in  this  laundry,  although  a  physician  is  kept 
within  calling  distance,  in  case  of  accident  or  sickness.  Sick 
girls  are  taken  to  the  manager's  office  to  be  revived. 

"The  heat  in  the  summer  time  is  awful,"  she  said.  "In 
the  winter  we  don't  notice  it  much,  as  the  steam  keeps  the 
building  warm,  I  suppose." 

This  girl  said  she  began  working  when  she  was  14  years  old 
at  $4.80  a  week.  She  is  compelled  to  arise  mornings  at  5.30 
o'clock  in  order  to  get  to  her  work.  She  said  her  increase  in 
wages  was  due  to  the  fact  that  her  hours  were  increased  from  8 
to  9,  after  she  had  been  working  about  a  year.  Her  mother  and 
father  are  separated  and  she  is  helping  her  mother  support  a 
family  of  three. 

Another  girl  from  the  American  Steam  Laundry  testified 
she  began  work  when  14  years  old,  because  she  didn't  like  to  go 
to  school,  although  she  did  not  have  to  work  "as  papa  was 
working."  She  left  school  when  in  the  seventh  grade.  She  is 
17  years  old  and  about  the  size  of  a  normal  14  year  old  girl. 
She  pays  15  cents  for  her  lunch  daily. 

Two  girls  from  the  Peerless  Laundry  told  practically  the 
same  story  of  wages,  though  one  of  them,  a  head  collar  girl, 
received  $7  a  week.  The  parents  of  both  of  these  girls  are 
separated  and  the  girls  turn  all  of  their  money  over  to  their 
mothers. 


48]  31 

Two  scrub  women  from  the  Pierce  Office  Building  testified 
they  received  $26  a  month,  payable  $13  twice  a  month.  Both 
were  married,  but  one  was  separated  from  her  husband  and  tak- 
ing care  of  her  father. 

The  other  woman,  61  years  old,  said  she  ate  only  two  meals 
a  day.  She  arose  mornings  at  4.45  o'clock.  The  scrub  women 
work  "split"  hours — from  6  a.  m,  to  9.  a.  m.  and  from  5  p,  m. 
to  9  p.  m.  Both  had  been  working  for  six  years,  and  their  only 
income  aside  from  their  scrubbing  came  from  Christmas  presents 
from  the  tenants  of  the  building. 

One  widow,  18  years  old,  frail  looking,  employed  at  the 
Cupples  Envelope  Company  testified  she  earned  from  $6  to  $7 
a  week.  On  this  amount  she  supported  one  child.  She  lives 
with  her  mother  who  takes  in  washing  and  works  in ,  private 
families.  Between  them  they  pay  rent,  buy  their  clothes  and 
support  two  other  children.  She  operates  a  machine  which 
turns  out  from  65,000  to  68,000  envelopes  daily. 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "Wouldn't  you  prefer  to  be  a 
maid  in  a  pleasant  home  in  the  country  at  $5  a  week  and  board, 
than  to     work  in  your  present  position  and  live  in    the  city?" 

Answer:  "No,  I  would  rather  be  here  with  my  mother." 

"Suppose  you  study  over  such  a  proposition,"  said  Senator 
Wilson.  "There  would  be  plenty  of  people  in  the  country  to 
help  you." 

This  question  was  asked  of  several  other  employes  of  envel- 
ope factories  and  in  every  instance  the  same  reply  would  be 
made. 

One  young  woman  employed  in  the  Hesse  Envelope  factory 
testified  she  made  $7.50  a  week  and  started  at  $4.50.  She  lived 
with  her  parents.  She  operated  one  of  the  fastest  machines  and 
turns  out  60,000  envelopes  daily.  She  declared  the  machines 
had  no  safety  appliances  and  nothing  to  protect  her  from  getting 
her  hand  caught.     "Few  are  hurt,  however,"  she  declared. 

Another  employe  of  the  same  envelope  factory  testified  she 
earned  $7  a  week. 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "You  say  you  are  familiar 
with  housework.  Why  don't  you  go  to  the  country  where  you 
can  obtain  from  $5  to  $7  a  week,  a  good  home  and  comfortable 
surroundings?" 

Answer:  "Not  me.  I  just  came  from  the  country  a  couple 
of  weeks  ago,  and  glad  to  get  away.  They  offer  you  as  much  as 
50  cents,  75  cents  or  $1  a  week  for  14  to  18  hours  work  a  day  in 
the  country.     I  have  had  enough. 


32  [48 

A  woman,  21  years  old,  waitress  at  the  Midday  Lunch  Club, 
having  a  baby  to  support  testified  she  depended  on  her  tips  to 
buy  the  necessaries  of  li€e.  "My  baby  costs  me  $2  a  week," 
she  testified.  "I  leave  her  with  a  woman.  I  room  with  another 
girl  and  we  each  pay  $^.25  a  week  for  the  room  including  gas 
for  cooking.  If  I  am  right  pleasant  and  lucky,  I  get  from  75 
cents  to  80  cents  a  day  in  tips.  If  I  manage  right  I  get  through, 
but  it  is  hard  at  times." 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "Do  you  have  enough  to 
eat?" 

Answer:     "Oh,  I  suppose  so.  I  get  along  anyway.  I  have  to." 
Question:  "Does  your  roommate  share  her  food  with  you." 
•Answer:  "There  isn't  much  for  either  of  us  to  share." 
Question:  "Do  you  have  to  pay  carfare." 
Answer:  "Yes,  when  I  have  it." 

Question:  "Do  you  have  time  for  amusement?  Do  you 
ever  go  to  the  parks?" 

Answer:  "Yes  if  someone  takes  me.     But  that  isn't  often." 
Question:  "How  much  do  you  estimate  that  you  pay  for 
the  food  that  you  cook  in  your  room?" 

Answer:  "That  costs  me  about  $2  a  week.  Sometimes  I 
have  to  keep  out  carfare  and  don't  eat  so  much." 

Question:   "How  much  do  your  clothes  cost  you?" 
Answer:   "That   depends.     I   suppose   an   average   of  $3   a 
week.     I  buy  only  one  piece  at  a  time.     If  my  tips  are  good  I 
can  buy  more." 

She  testified  she  could  live  on  $7  a  week  if  it  was  a  steady 
wage. 

A  waitress  from  the  Gem  restaurant  testified  her  wages 
were  $7  a  week.  She  works  10  hours  a  day  and  every  other 
Sunday.  In  addition  to  paying  her  own  room  rent  she  is  sup- 
porting a  daughter.  She  pays  $2.50  a  week  for  her  room, 
$1.50  for  her  laundry  and  about  $1  a  week  for  clothes.  She 
said  she  received  about  $7  a  week  in  tips.  She  has  a  bank 
account.  She  declared  she  could  live  on  $5  a  week  aside  from 
her  board.  She  said  that  no  girl  could  board  herself  and  eat 
what  she  needed  for  less  than  $5  a  week. 

Session  of  May  24. 

An  employe  of  the  Hesse  Envelope  Company  was  the  first 
witness   before  the  commission. 


48]  33 

She  testified  that  girls  who  had  been  injured  by  machinery 
at  the  envelope  factory  had  been  taken  to  the  city  dispensary 
for  treatment.     She  testified   that  she  earned   $6   a  week. 

Two  other  witnesses  heard  were  from  the  Woolworth  5 
and  10-cent  stores.  They  said  they  received  $5  a  week,  and 
used  the  money  to  help  support  the  family. 

Evidence  showed  that  the  pay  ran  from  $3.50  to  $6  a  week. 

Only  a  brief  session  was  held  and  the  commission  adjourned. 

Sessions  of  Tune  3,  4,  5. 

Mrs.  Lillian  Stuart  appeared  before  the  commission  and 
discussed  the  question  of  clothing  for  working  girls.  She  de- 
clared that  tight  lacing  and  clothing  and  high  heeled  shoes 
caused  more  illness  among  girls  than  many  conditions  under 
which  they  work. 

In  answer  to  a  question  by  Chairman  Kinney  she  said  she 
thought  a  girl  ought  to  have  at  least  $40  a  year  to  pay  for  her 
clothing.  She  declared  that  women  with  less  clothing  than  they 
now  wear  would  be  more  moral.  She  expressed  the  belief  that 
the  proper  training  of  girls  in  the  buying  of  clothes  and  in  wear- 
ing them  would  do  more  toward  alleviating  their  condition  than 
anything  else. 

One  witness,  a  widow,  employed  at  Lungstras,  a  glove  clean- 
ing establishment,  said  she  was  forced  to  support  herself  and  a 
married  daughter  on  $9.10  a  week.  She  began  working  three 
years  before  at  $5  a  week. 

Another  widow  employed  at  the  same  establishment  at  $9 
a  week  said  she  supported  herself  and  mother  on  her  wages  by 
paying  her   mother  $4   a   week  board. 

A  forelady  in  the  same  establishment  who  receives  $10  a 
week  after  working  five  years,  told  the  commission  that  nearly 
all  the  women  employed  at  the  place  were  married.  She  knew 
of  only  6  girls  out  of  35  who  were  unmarried.  She  said  the 
firm  started  the  inexperienced  girls  at  $5  a  week  increasing  their 
wages  every  two  or  three  months  until  the  maximum  of  $9  a 
week  was  reached.  If  a  girl  did  not  show  aptitude  in  one  de- 
partment she  was  transferred  to  another  where  she  could  get 
her    increase. 

One  young  woman,  employed  in  the  Woolworth  5  and  10- 
cent  store  said  she  was  forced  to  live  on  $5  a  week.  She  was 
living  with  a  friend,  whom  she  paid  $1.50  a  week  for  two  meals 

48—3 


34  [48 

a  day.  She  said  if  she  did  not  have  this  friend  she  could  not 
live  on  her  wages.  She  said  she  ate  her  midday  lunch  at  the 
Y.  W.  C.  A.  where  she  paid  12  cents  for  her  lunch. 

One  girl,  18  years  old,  employed  at  Scruggs,-Vandervoort- 
Barney  Dry  Goods  Company,  said  she  had  been  working  two 
years.  She  was  receiving  $6  a  week,  and  began  at  $2.50  a 
week  as  a  check  girl.  She  said  the  girl  beginners  were  first  made 
check  girls  at  $2.50  a  week,  then  cash  girls  at  $3.50  a  week,  and 
maybe  after  a  year's  service  were  made  sales  girls  at  $6  a  week. 

Another  sales  girl,  at  the  lace  counter,  told  the  same  story. 
The   parents   of   both   girls   are   living. 

Robert  P.  Wilcox,  general  manager  of  the  Grand  Leader 
department  store  testified  that  his  firm  employed  about  2000 
salesmen,  clerks  and  cash  girls,  of  whom  1298  were  women. 
Of  these  women,  149  boarded  outside,  the  remainder  lived  with 
their  relatives  or  friends.  He  explained  the  workings  of  the 
company's  welfare  secretary,  a  woman  employed  to  look  after 
the  general  welfare  of  the  girls  employed.  The  company  also 
maintains  a  hospital  service,  rest  rooms  and  a  savings  bank  for 
the   benefit   of  its   employes. 

Mr.  Wilcox  declared  that  his  firm  paid  an  average  wage  of 
$9.25  a  week  to  its  sales  people.  This  did  not  include  the  high 
priced  buyers  nor  the  cash  girls,  but  the  average  only  of  the 
sales  people. 

He  declared  that  some  of  the  girls  employed  by  the  firm  at 
$6  a  week  who  were  living  with  their  parents,  were  putting  $1  a 
week  in  the  savings  department  maintained  by  the  firm,  for 
which  they  received  5  per  cent  interest. 

Mr.  Wilcox  said  that  his  firm  found  it  more  satisfactory  to 
maintain  a  system  of  commissions  for  its  employes  based  on  the 
amount  of  sales  made  by  the  girls.  A  certain  minimum  sales 
per  month  is  fixed  for  each  employe  and  she  is  given  2  per  cent 
on  all  she  sells  over  this  minimum.  A  record  of  the  sales  of 
each  girl  is  kept,  and  a  comparison  is  made  each  year  with  the 
corresponding  month  of  the  year  previous.  If  her  sales  show  a 
good  increase,  the  girl  is  promoted.  An  efficient  sales  girl  will 
show  at  least  5  per  cent  gain  each  year.  Mr.  Wilcox  said.  If 
the  girls  make  their  increases  each  week,  the  firm  allows  them 
to  take  a  half  holiday,  or  to  apply  the  extra  time  on  their  wages. 
Most  of  the  girls  take  the  half  holiday. 

Mr.  Wilcox  said  the  firm  maintains  a  lunch  room  for  the 
employes  at  a  loss,  where  each  girl  could  get  a  good  meal  of  four 


48]  35 

selections  for  12  cents.  He  said  that  of  the  total  number  of 
girls  now  employed  by  the  firm,  about  800  of  them  have  been 
with  the  Grand  Leader  for  more  than     three  years. 

Air.  Wilcox  said  that  if  a  girl  did  not  show  efliciency  by  an 
increase  of  sales  she  was  called  in  and  urged  to  do  better.  The 
third  call  usually  was  serious.  He  said  the  company  attempted 
to  help  the  girls  to  help  themselves  by  offering  from  $1  to  $5 
for  suggestions  to  improve  the  department  where  the  girl  worked. 

He  said  the  company  tried  to  fix  the  monthly  minimum 
sales  low  enough  to  encourage  the  girls  to  stay  and  become 
efficient  and  obtain  promotion.  He  said  the  greatest  proportion 
of  the   girls   leaving   the   firm,    left   to   get   married. 

In  answer  to  a  question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter,  Mr.  Wilcox 
said  that  "the  more  things  we  do  for  our  employes,  the  greater 
harvest   we   reap." 

Mr.  Wilcox  told  the  commission  that  the  average  working 
conditions  in  St.  Louis  were  better  than  in  any  other  city  he  had 
visited  in  a  recent  investigating  tour.  He  said  there  had  been  a 
general  advance  in  wages  paid  to  women  in  the  last  two  or 
three  years,  averaging  about  $1  a  week. 

He  said  that  his  company  did  not  discharge  a  girl  who  was 
found  lacking  in  moral  courage  as  was  done  in  some  places, 
but  it  tried  to  help  her.  When  she  w^as  employed  she  was  re- 
quired to  give  three  personal  references  and  two  business  refer- 
ences. 

Investigations  made  by  his  firm  showed  that  it  cost  a  girl 
about  $7  a  week  to  live. 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "How  do  you  figure  the 
amount  you   pay   your   sales   people?" 

Answer:  "We  try  to  arrive  at  it  on  a  percentage  basis.  We 
figure  about  5  per  cent  on  the  sales.  Some  of  our  girls  earn  as 
high  as  $45  a  a  month  over  and  above  their  salaries,  and  we 
have  some  salespeople  who  earn  $40  and  $45  a  week. 

Wilcox  declared  the  interest  of  the  store  in  the  girls  did  not 
cease  with  the  day's  work.  The  welfare  department  of  the 
store  looks  after  them  in  their  homes  and  boarding  houses. 
All  girl  employes  who  marry  are  given  wedding  presents  and 
there  is  a  $50  funeral  benefit  for  those  who  die. 

The  store  employs  nurses  who  go  out  and  look  up  the  girls 
when   they   get   sick. 

"The  Retail  Association  in  the  different  cities  ought  to 
look  into  the  wage  question",  said  Mr.  Wilcox.     "Our  associa- 


36  [48 

tion  in  St.  Louis  has  spoken  to  several  members  who  were 
not  paying  what  the  association  considered  proper  wages. 
The  result  has  been  a  general  beltermcnt  of  wage  conditions, 
and  better  treatment  for  the  employes.  We  find  that  the 
more  we  do  for  our  help,  the  greater  harvest  we  reap.  There 
has  been  a  general  wage  increase  throughout  the  country  in  the 
past  few  years  owing  to  the  interest  employers  take  in  their 
help,  and  conditions  have  improved  much  since  I  came  to  St. 
Louis    three    years    ago." 

A  15  year  old  girl  in  the  employ  of  the  Brown  Shoe  Com- 
pany was  the  next,  witness.  She  was  getting  $9  a  week  on  piece 
work.  She  and  her  older  sister  are  supporting  their  mother  and 
four    other    children. 

Another  15  year  old  girl  from  the  Superior  Shoe  factory 
testified  she  w'as  forced  to  leave  school  three  weeks  before  this 
meeting  because  her  father  had  become  sick.  She  was  in  the 
fifth  grade.  She  is  making  $4  a  w^eek  in  the  packing  room. 
There  are  five  children  in  the  family. 

W.  H.  Moulton,  manager  of  the  International  Shoe  Com- 
pany, a  $25,000,000  corporation  testified  that  his  company 
had  started  the  move  for  an  organization  to  look  after  the  home 
conditions  of  the  girls  and  was  waiting  the  outcome  of  the 
hearing  of  the  commission.  He  testified  that  the  International 
Shoe  Company  never  paid  a  girl  less  than  $5  a  w^eek  to  begin 
with,  and  this  to  inexperienced  girls.  He  presented  records 
to  show  that  the  average  wage  paid  girls  was  from  $8.40  to  $10 
a  w^eek.  He  said  the  minimum  was  fixed  at  $5  after  it  had  been 
found  that  this  was  all  that  could  be  paid  to  inexperienced 
help,  considering,  also  the  fact  that  girls  could  be  found  who 
would  work  for  $3.50  and  $4  a  week.  He  said  girls  could  get 
board  for  $4  a  week  and  exhibited  new^spaper  advertisements 
showing  this  to  be  true.  Some  of  the  machine  girls  made  as 
high  as  $24  a  w'eek,  he  said. 

Mr.  Moulton  told  of  finding  that  80  per  cent  of  the  girls 
employed  in  the  International  Shoe  Company's  plant  lived  at 
home  w'ith  their  families  or  with  relatives.  He  said  the  com- 
pany tried  to  look  after  their  welfare  while  they  were  at  work, 
and  the  company  always  paid  for  a  physician  when  a  girl  be- 
came sick.  When  she  w^as  ill  more  than  a  w^eek,  she  has  to 
pay  for  her  own  physician. 

In  answer  to  a  question  by  Senator  Whitledge,  he  denied 
that  the  company  cut  the  price  of  piece  work  when  girls  became 
so  efficient  that  they  earned  $16  and  $18  a  week. 


48]  37 

Mr.  Moulton  testified  that  the  company  employs  8500 
persons,  2800  of  them  girls  and  women.  When  a  girl  applies 
for  work,  her  name  and  address  are  taken,  but  she  is  not  required 
to  furnish  references.  He  denied  that  the  company  has  dull 
seasons  and  said  that  occasionally  the  girls  complained  because 
they  do  not  have  enough  idle  days.  He  said  the  plant  had 
never  been  closed  down  a  week  in  five  years.  Eighty  per  cent 
of  the  girls  do  piece  work. 

Question  by  Senator  Whitledge:  "What  do  you  think  a 
girl's   salary  should   be?" 

Answer:  "A  girl  should  get  all  she  can  make.  If  she  is  a 
recent  arrival  from  the  country,  is  clumsy  and  awkward,  she 
cannot  be  expected  to  make  as  much  as  a  girl  who  has  had  more 
experience." 

Geo.  F.  Pittman,  general  manager  of  the  St.  Louis  Cordage 
Mills  testified  that  he  employed  450  persons  about  175  of  them 
being  women,  and  wages  range  from  $5.40  the  lowest,  to  $12.30 
the  highest.  He  said  the  average  wage  for  the  week  that  the 
commission  was  in  session  was  $6.61,  the  week  previous  it  was 
16.59,  and  three  weeks  before  $6.63,  an  average  of  $6.61  for 
three  weeks.  Competition  by  other  manufacturers  located 
in  Ohio  and  the  East  largely  controlled  the  wage  scale  at  this 
factory  according  to  Pittman. 

He  testified  that  90  per  cent  of  the  employes  were  foreigners 
who  were  opposed  to  suggestions  regarding  the  betterment  of 
their  health. 

Mr.  Pittman  said  the  company  leased  a  piece  of  land  on  the 
Merremac  River  five  years  ago  as  an  outing  place,  and  per- 
mitted the  employes  to  spend  two  days  there  for  25  cents.  Dur- 
ing the  first  year  the  weekly  attendance  was  about  three  hundred. 
This  fell  off  so  much  during  the  next  two  years  that  the  plan 
was  abandoned.  On  investigation,  he  said,  he  learned  that  the 
girls  complained  that  the  men  were  not  given  any  liberties. 
By  that,  he  said,  they  were  not  permitted  to  drink  intoxicating 
liquor  on  the  place. 

A  woman  physician  is  in  daily  attendance  at  the  factory 
and  in  case  of  accident  the  company  pays  the  doctor  bills  and 
allows  the  employe  half  pay  while  she  is  idle. 

Mr.  Pittman  said  he  advanced  the  wages  of  girls  30  cents 
per  week  each  year  after  the  first  year,  until  they  were  paying 
$1.50  more  to  the  girls  when  they  had  been  employed  five  years 
or  more. 


38  [48 

During  the  sessions  of  the  commission,  the  Cordage  Com- 
pany's plant  was  closed. 

E.  T.  Nolen,  superintendent  of  the  Tower  Grove  factory 
of  the  Liggett  &  Myers  Tobacco  Company  testified  that  the 
average  wages  paid  to  the  women  workers  was  $9  to  $10  a  week. 
He  said  between  800  and  1000  women  were  employed  in  St. 
Louis  on  piece  work.  No  money  is  set  apart  by  the  company 
to  look  after  the  general  welfare  of  the  women  employes.  Lieut. 
Gov.  Painter  suggested  he  take  up  the  question  with  the  direc- 
tors with  a  view  of  having  something  of  that  kind  done.  He 
promised  to  do  so. 

F.  A.  Field,  manager  of  the  Woolworth  Sixth  Street  store 
testified  that  his  salesgirls  were  started,  with  few  exceptions  at 
$5  a  week.  Occasionally  they  were  given  raises  of  50  cents  a 
week.  In  some  of  the  older  stores,  Mr.  Field  said,  the  girls 
were   paid   as   high   as   $10   and   $12   a   week. 

Chas.  F.  Wenneker,  president  of  the  Blanke-Wenneker 
Candy  Company  testified  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  use 
other  employes  than  women  in  many  lines  of  his  work.  The 
company  employed  250  girls,  and  Mr.  Wenneker  said  the  av- 
erage paid  was  $7.50  per  week.  Some  of  the  girls  make  as  high 
as  $16  per  week.  Mr.  Wenneker  said  the  minimum  wage  law 
would  not  affect  the  employ  of  women  in  any  factory.  He 
urged  that  a  minimum  wage  greater  than  $7.50  be  adopted. 

He  said:  "We  wish  that  every  candy  factory  would  be 
forced  to  pay  high  wages  for  then  they  would  get  girls  who 
would  take  more  interest  in  their  work,  and  conditions  would 
be  better." 

The  scale  for  candy  workers  in  St.  Louis  is  25  per  cent 
higher  than  in  the  East. 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "Do  you  think  that  a  mini- 
mum wage  law  would  cause  the  retirement  of  women  in  factories 
and  their  services  displaced  by  men?" 

Answer:  "I  would  rather  have  an  $8  a  week  girl  than  an 
$8  a  week  man,  for  he  is  out  looking  at  the  baseball  score  while 
she  is  wrapping  candy." 

George  E.  Sweitzer,  manager  and  superintendent  of  the 
shirt  factory  of  the  Ferguson-McKinney  Dry  Goods  Company 
leslificd  the  average  wages  for  the  girls  employed  making  shirts 
is  between  $7  and  $8.50  per  week.     Beginners  receive  $3  a  week. 

Most  of  the  girls  in  that  factory  are  employed  as  piece 
workers.     The  forewomen  are  paid  from  $18  to  $21   a  week. 


48]  39 

"These  heads,"  said  Mr.  Sweitzer,  "act  as  mother  to  the  thou- 
sand girls  employed.  They  look  after  the  girls  after  business 
hours." 

Mr.  Sweitzer  said  that  the  girls  in  St.  Louis  receive  higher 
wages  than  in  the  East,  where  shirts  are  manufactured  almost 
entirely  by  foreign  labor. 

A  girl  employed  by  the  Columbia  Canning  Company  tes- 
tified she  supported  herself  and  family  on  $5  a  week.  Two  girls 
emplo^^ed  by  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company  testified 
they  are  paid  $45  a  month.  Girls  from  the  Union  Biscuit  Com- 
pany testified  they  receive  from  $7  to  $11  a  week. 

At  the  session  of  June  5,  Melville  L.  Wilkinson,  president 
of  the  Scruggs,  Vandevoort-Barney  Company  testified  he  favored 
a  national  minimum  wage  law  but  was  doubtful  about  the 
wisdom  of  state  minimum  wage  laws.  He  said  his  store  employs 
986  with  wages  paid  as  follows: 

Average  of  all,  including  cash  girls  for  1911 $7. 17  a  week. 

Average  of  all,  including  cash  girls  for  1912 7.91a  week. 

Average  of  all,  including  cash  girls  for  1913 8.45  a  week. 

Average  of  sales  girls  for  1911 8. 75  a  week. 

Average  of  sales  girls  for  1912 9.35  a  week. 

Average  of  sales  girls  for  1913 10 .  75  a  week. 

Mr.  Wilkinson  said  the  sales  girls'  average  wage  per  week 
was  increased  by  an  average  of  52  cents  a  week  commission, 
making  her  total  pay  $11.22  a  week.  He  testified  that  vacations 
were  given  on  pay.  Cash  girls  are  provided  with  their  clothing 
and  their  laundry  done  free.  Rest  rooms  and  lunch  rooms  are 
provided,  and  any  girl  found  to  be  ill  is  permitted  to  go  home. 

The  store  also  employs  persons  to  look  after  the  welfare 
of  the  girls,  visit  their  homes,  their  minister  or  priest,  and  throw 
every  protection  possible  about  them.  Once  a  year  the  store 
is  closed  all  day  for  a  picinc.  Employes  are  given  10  per  cent 
discount  on  everything  they  buy  at  the  store  and  15  per  cent 
on    millinery. 

Mr.  Wilkinson  testified  that  all  sales  girls  had  been  notified 
that  they  would  be  expected  to  earn  at  least  $8  a  week  and 
told  the  commission  he  did  not  want  sales  girls  at  less  than  $10. 
He  said  there  had  been  persons  in  one  department  of  the  store 
for  52  years  and  for  at  least  30  years  had  been  receiving  the  same 
salary  because  they  had  reached  the  summit  of  their  efficiency. 
He  said  the  high  salaried  employes  are  never  discharged  because 
the  store  cannot  get  enough  of  them  at  from  $12  to  $30  a  week. 

Mr.  Wilkinson  said  that  if  a  minimum  wage  were  estab- 


40  [48 

lished  it  should  be  $8  for  sales  girls,  but  he  opposed  the  idea 
because  there  would  be  a  large  element  satisfied  with  the  mini- 
mum and  their  efficiency  would  be  lost.  He  declared  that  con- 
ditions were  better  for  the  girls  in  St.  Louis  than  in  New  York 
State  where  he  was  formerly  in  business. 

He  told  of  having  started  in  business  at  $8  a  month  and 
agreed  with  Senator  Green  that  the  "school  of  adversity"  was 
a  fme  one  to  start  in. 

"Well,  do  I  understand,  then,"  inquired  Senator  Wilson, 
"that  you  gentlemen  fear  that  the  minimum  wage  will  blot  out 
the  school  of  adversity?     Is  that  what  you  are  afraid  of?" 

Mr.  Wilkinson  said  no. 

He  said  there  was  no  system  of  fines  in  his  store  and  he 
did  not  know  of  any  big  store  in  St.  Louis  where  there  was  such 
a  system. 

P.  C.  Baker  of  the  Famous  and  Barr  Company  testified 
the  average  wage  paid  to  sales  girls  was  $9.08  a  week  including 
sales  and  commissions.  Out  of  950  girls  employed  at  the  store 
only  64  live  among  strangers  and  were  entirely  dependent  upon 
their  wages  for  their  living.  He  said  the  store  looks  after  the 
welfare  of  its  employes,  providing  a  farm  for  them  on  the  Mera- 
mec  River,  pays  their  doctor  bills  when  they  are  ill  and  employs 
a  woman  simply  to  look  after  them  in  their  homes.  He  presented 
statistics  prepared  by  the  welfare  secretary  showing  the  actual 
cost   of   living. 

Three  of  the  store's  girls,  he  said,  kept  house,  renting  a 
three  room  and  bath  flat  at  $17  a  month.  The  actual  items  of 
expense  from  their  account  books  were:  Gas,  $2;  coal,  $2;  meats, 
60  cents;  flour  and  bread,  $5;  sugar,  $1;  butter,  $1.40;  eggs, 
$L50;  canned  goods,  $2;  fruits,  $2;  rice,  meal,  etc.,  20  cents; 
coffee,  $1;  tea,  15  cents;  laundry  supplies,  50  cents;  making  a 
total  of  $38.35  or  $12.88  each.  Carfare,  lunches  and  clothes 
brought  the  cost  of  living  up  to  $19.88  per  month  for  each   girl. 

Mr.  Baker  said  the  store  had  excellent  rest  rooms  and 
places  of  amusement  for  its  employes.  The  minimum  wage  was 
$6  a  week  with  commissions,  and  $3,  $4,  and  $5  a  week  for  girls 
between  14  and  16  years  of  age  employed  as  check  girls,  cash 
girls  and  bundle  wrappers. 

Mr.  Baker  said  he  believed  a  minimum  wage  law  would 
force  the  store  to  do  away  with  cash  girls,  or  junior  employes. 
He  said  the  company  arranged  the  maximum  wage  on  a  per- 
centage basis,  ranging  from  4  to  6  per  cent  of  the  profits  of  the 
store. 


48]  41 

He  says  the  company  has  a  farm  of  25  acres  near  St.  Louis, 
arranged  for  the  girls  during  their  vacations  where  they  paid 
from  $3  to  $4  a  week. 

He  said  the  firm  employed  a  woman  whose  sole  duty  was 
to  look  after  the  welfare  of  the  employes. 

He  says  the  Welfare  Association  of  the  girls  is  entirely 
optional  with  the  employes  in  joining.  About  90  per  cent, 
however,  always  joined.  They  pay  in  from  10  cents  to  $1 
monthly  for  sick  benefit  and  receive  service  during  illness  ac- 
cording to  the  amount  they  pay  monthly. 

Mr.  Baker  declared  the  wages  paid  girls  and  the  comforts 
given  them  in  St.  Louis  department  stores  were  far  better  than 
in  Minneapolis  and  other  places  where  he  had  been  employed. 

Daniel  C.  Nugent,  Jr.,  of  B.  Nugent  &  Bro.  Dry  Goods 
Company  testified  that  the  average  wage  of  the  650  girls  em- 
ployed in  that  establishemnt  on  May  24th  was  $7.86  for  the 
entire  force.  The  average  wage  for  the  saleswomen  he  placed 
at  $9.70  a  week.  Lie  said  the  company  allowed  its  employes 
a  10  per  cent  discount  on  all  goods  bought  there.  All  the  girls 
living  away  from  home  he  said,  were  paid  $8  a  week  by  the  com- 
pany. Until  the  meeting  of  the  Senate  Wage  Commission, 
Mr.  Nugent  explained,  he  had  32  of  these  girls  living  with 
strangers,  but  8  were  discharged  because  they  were  not  efficient 
enough  to  earn  the  minimum  of  $8  a  week.  He  said  that  on 
May  23  about  468  employes  ate  at  the  Company  lunch  rooms, 
for  whose  meals  the  company  received  but  $24.24.  He  said  the 
company  paid  $120  a  year  for  the  employes  picinc,  giving  them 
the  day  off  on  pay.  The  company  employs  a  salesmanship 
instructor  for  the  benefit  of  the  salespeople. 

Members  of  the  commission  suggested  to  Mr.  Nugent  that 
the  company  should  provide  a  woman  in  the  institution  to  look 
after  the  welfare  of  the  cash  girls.  Mr.  Nugent  thought  the 
idea  a  good  one.  He  said  the  company  discouraged  the  girls 
buying  expensive  clothes  above  their  wages,  by  refusing  them 
credit   except   in   certain   instances. 

Mr.  Nugent  thought  the  minimum  wage  law  would  not 
work  to  the  benfit  of  the  employes  because  many  of  the  girls 
now  working  were  not  merely  working  for  the  wages,,  but  were 
working  in  order  to  earn  a  living  until  they  could  get  married. 

T.  J.  Couzens,  superintendent  of  Penny  &  Gentle's  Dry 
Goods  Store  testifid  the  average  wage  of^  190,  girls  in  his  em- 
ploy was  $7.21  a  week.     The  lowest  salary  paid  a  salesgirl  was 


42  [48 

$5  a  week  and  $3  a  week  to  cash  girls,  Mr.  Couzcns  said  the 
store  was  liberal  in  its  treatment  of  girls  sending  them  home 
in  taxicabs  when  they  were  ill  and  providing  a  physician  to 
attend  them. 

Mr.  Schaper  of  Schaper  Bros.  Dry  Goods  Company  tes- 
tified that  the  girls  employed  in  that  store  pay  for  their  own 
vacation,  amusement,  and  medical  attention.  The  expenses  for 
these  attentions  comes  out  of  the  sick  benefit  fund  that  is  col- 
lected from  all  employes.  The  employes  pay  25  cents  a  month 
to  this  fund. 

Mr.  Schaper  said  girls  were  given  two  or  three  weeks  trial 
before  they  were  paid  a  salary.  If  they  did  not  prove  their 
efficiency  in  that  time,  they  were  discharged.  He  said  he  em- 
ployed 300  girls,  the  lowest  wage  being  $4.50  and  the  highest 
$25.00.  He  said  there  were  only  a  few  getting  the  maximum. 
He  said  that  girls  in  the  "bargain  square"  received  the  lowest 
wage.     Cashiers  receive  from  $5  to  $8  a  week. 

Mrs.  Raymond  Robins,  president  of  the  National  Women's 
Trade  Union  League,  Miss  Alice  Henry  and  A4iss  Agnes  Wilson, 
daughter  of  Secretary  of  Labor  Wilson,  appeared  before  the 
committee  and  gave  testimony  on  their  investigations. 

Mrs.  Robins  declared  Missouri  would  be  compelled  to  pass 
a  widow's  pension  law  if  the  minimum  wage  law  for  women 
and  girls  was  enacted.  She  based  her  statement  on  the  belief 
that  a  minimum  wage  law  would  throw  out  of  employment 
many  14-year-old  girls  and  elderly  women,  under  the  efficiency 
test,  which  would  naturally  follow  a  minimum  wage. 

Mrs.  Robins  favors  minimum  wage  boards  for  each  in- 
dustry, the  employers  and  employes  of  each  trade  to  agree  upon 
a  minimum  wage.  In  Chicago,  she  said,  the  Woman's  Trade 
Union  had  fixed  this  minimum  wage  at  $12.00.  She  declared 
that  every  industry  that  did  not  pay  a  living  wage  to  its  women 
employes  was  parasitic  and  that  the  community  had  to  pay 
the  difference. 

Here  LieuL  Gov.  Painter  asked  Mrs.  Robins  whether  a 
minimum'  wage  law  would  not  drive  girls  out  of  employment 
and  cause  their  places  to  be  filled  by  men.  She  said  she  did 
not  think  it  would.  She  said  before  the  law  in  Illinois  was 
passed,  girls  employed  at  the  elevated  railroad  stations  were 
paid  $2.50  a  day  for  12  hours  work  seven  days  a  week.  The 
employers  threatened  to  discharge  the  girls  and  employ  men 
if  the  ten  hour  law  were  passed,  she  said.     When  the  law  was 


48]  43 

passed  the  company  reduced  the  working  hours  to  nine  hours 
a  day,  increased  the  pay  to  $2.15  and  gave  the  girls  every  third 
Sunday  off. 

Mrs.  Robins  declared  women  not  only  ought  to  work,  but 
that  they  enjoyed  being  among  the  multitude,  preferring  that 
to  the  home.  She  said  her  work  was  to  make  women  more 
rebellious,  for  the  purpose  of  demanding  more  for  their  services 
and  better  working  conditions. 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "Has  not  women's  em- 
ployment in  the  industries  enforced  women's  slavery  in  this 
country?" 

Answer:    "Yes." 

Question:  "Are  not  the  women  workers  more  firmly  in 
bondage  than  the  African  slaves,  who  were  valuable  to  their 
owners  and  were  properly  fed  and  taken  care  of?  Do  not  em- 
ployers now  know  that  they  can  wear  one  girl  out  and  get  another 
to  take  her  place?" 

Answer:    "That  is  true." 

Question:  "Then  if  women  were  taken  out  of  the  industries 
and  lived  at  home  and  took  care  of  their  families,  would  they 
not  be  better  off,  and  would  not  the  men  get  higher  wages  and 
be  better  able  to  provide  for  their  families?" 

Answer:   "Every  woman  is  entitled  to  work  in  this  country." 

Question:  "Will  not  her  employment  in  industries  result 
in  such  a  decrease  in  children  that  the  country  will  eventually 
be  depopulated." 

Answer:  Oh,  no,  there  are  25,000  children  in  my  ward  in 
Chicago." 

Question:  "But  are  they  not  the  children  of  foreign  born 
people  and  do  you  not  find  in  every  city  among  the  American 
born  people  that  there  are  fewer  children  from  year  to  year?" 

Answer:    "Yes,  that  is  true." 

She  said  she  would  be  glad  to  see  people  go  to  the  country 
to  live  where  they  would  have  more  room  and  be  better  off, 
but  under  existing  conditions  there  was  not  enough  work  for 
women  to  do  in  homes  and  it  was  better  for  them  to  be  engaged 
in  gainful  occupations. 

W.  W.  Williams  former  factory  inspector  was  the  next 
witness.  Mr.  Williams  said  he  favored  a  permanent  state  wage 
commission  to  investigate  each  industry.  ITc  thought  a  mini- 
mum wage  law  would   put  a  "premium  on  ignorance,"   but  if 


44  [48 

adopted  should  be  based  upon  the  employers  income,  as  well 
as  the  efTiciency  of  the  employes. 

Specific  Investigation. 

The  condition  of  ten  girls  and  women,  working  in  one 
place  in  St.  Louis  was  made  the  subject  of  a  special  investiga- 
tion. The  ages  of  the  girls  were  as  follows:  16,  18,  20,  24,  and 
the  others  over  24  years  of  age.  The  wages  were  as  follows: 
16,  $6,  $7,  $8,  $8  ,$8,  $9,  $9,  |10,  $13.    Average  $8.40  per  week. 

Each  girl  was  given  a  list  to  fill  out  and  asked  to  put  down 
the  prices  of  the  garments  necessary  per  year;  where  a  garment 
is  used  more  than  one  year,  to  divide  the  cost. 

The  prices  are  for  new  goods  of  qualities  used  by  these 
girls  ordinarily,  and  does  not  include  Sunday  dresses  or  even- 
ing gowns;  just  clothing  necessary  to  wear  to  and  from  work. 

All  of  the  ten  girls  live  at  home  and  were  able  to  save  some 
out  of  this  estimate.  The  average  cost  per  year  which  is  $83.11, 
is  a  fair  estimate  of  the  minimum  cost  of  a  girl  or  woman's 
clothing  at  this  time  and  at  prevailing  prices.  The  estimates 
follow: 


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46  [48 


Information  Furnished  the  Commission  by  the  School  of-  Social 
Economy  of  Washington  University. 

The  school  of  social  economy  of  Washington  University 
asked  for  and  was  granted  permission  by  the  commission  to 
secure  information  on  the  minimum  wage  question  in  St.  Louis. 
The  work  was  conducted  by  Dr.  Geo.  B.  Mangold,  and  Miss 
Anne  M.  Evans  formerly  special  agent  for  the  Federal  Bureau 
of  Labor.  The  work  was  carried  on  under  the  immediate  super- 
vision of  Miss  Evans.  Following  is  a  summary  of  the  report 
prepared. 

An  undue  proportion  of  women  although  capable  and  indus- 
trious, are  receiving  abnormally  low  wages,  due  in  part  to  com- 
petitive conditions  but  in  part  to  a  lack  of  protection  from  the 
state  and  lack  of  organization  among  women  workers  and  regu- 
lated corporate  organization.     The  topics  studied  were: 

First,  the  cost  of  living  in  St.  Louis;  second,  a  general  study 
of  wage  conditions  in  thirteen  selected  industries,  employing 
18,523  women;  third,  an  intensive  study  of  the  wages  1569 
women  employed  in  the  men's  clothing  industry  and  of  the  con- 
ditions under  which  the  contract  shop  and  factory  work  were 
carried  on;  fourth,  an  intensive  study  of  the  wages  of  541  women 
employed  in  the  women's  clothing  industry,  and  the  home  con- 
ditions of  a  limited  number  of  these  women. 

Although  skill  and  experience  are  factors  in  the  deter- 
mination of  wages,  two  other  factors  co-operate  in  fixing  the 
basis  of  wage  payments.  They  are:  First,  the  supply  of  labor; 
second,  the  minimum  cost  of  living. 

The  supply  of  labor  affects  wage  rates  most  heavily  when 
it  has  outstripped  the  apparent  demand.  The  capital  invested 
in  a  manufacturing  plant  is  useless  without  a  labor  force,  but 
usually  the  wage  paid  is  the  smallest  necessities  of  labor  require. 
As  one  of  the  results  we  find  that  among  unskilled  workers 
women  receive  on  the  whole  a  wage  equal  to  approximately 
one-half  of  that  received  by  men.  Owing  to  the  forces  that 
depress  wages,  the  wage  scale  has  been  so  adjusted  that  the 
earnings  of  the  unskilled  laboring  man  are  little  more  than  suf- 
ficient to  maintain  a  single  man  without  dependants  and  the 
wages  of  the  unskilled  woman  are  less  than  her  average  cost 
of  living.  Startling  effects  on  industry  and  on  family  life  nec- 
essarily follow  such  conditions. 


48] 


47 


On  the  other  hand  a  normal  woman  of  average  intelligence 
devoting  her  time  and  energy  to  an  industry  should  be  capable 
of  complete  self  maintenance  and  should  not  be  dependent  on 
parents,  other  relatives  or  friends  for  partial  sui)port. 

Weekly  Wages — The  weekly  earnings  of  women  constitute 
an  important  but  not  the  decisive  factor  in  the  wage  problem. 
Investigation  shows  40.8  per  cent  of  7562  women  employed  in 
clothing,  boot  and  shoe,  tobacco,  printing  and  binding,  millinery, 
groceries  sundries,  candy,  drugs,  bags  and  baggage,  paper  boxes, 
cotton,  and  fur  industries  receive  less  than  $7  per  week.  In 
the  drug  making  68.8  per  cent  of  the  women  employed  earn 
less  than  |7  per  week,  while  in  printing  and  binding  only  27.4 
per  cent  earn  less  than  |7.  In  only  four  industries  were  any 
children  paid  as  much  as  $7  a  week,  and  out  of  a  total  of  1007 
children,  13  received  more  than  |7.  Of  these  nine  were  in  the 
boot  and  shoe  industry.  The  great  majority  of  the  children 
received  less  than  $5  a  week.  Boys  received  higher  wages  than 
girls.  Children's  work  is  almost  invariably  unskilled  and  con- 
sists of  such  simple  forms  of  work  as  sorting,  pasting,  packing, 
etc. 

In  the  following  table  six  specified  industries  in  which  com- 
paratively low  wages  are  paid  are  contrasted  as  to  the  number 
of  women  employed  in  each  and  the  various  rates  of  wages    paid. 


Industry. 

No. 

Women  earning 

$5  to  $6.99. 

.¥7  to  $8.99. 

$9  and  over. 

Total  No. 

Tobacco 

283 
7 
105 
109 
33 
103 

513 
179 
328 
154 
203 
346 

315 
69 
136 
174 
158 
236 

304 

25 

60 

136 

142 

92 

1,415 

Cotton 

Drugs 

Bakeries 

Paper  box 

Candy 

280 
629 
573 
536 

777 

Totals 

640 

1,723 

1.088 

759 

4,210 

This  table  includes  217  girls  less  than  16  years  of  age, 
nearly  all  of  whom  receive  less  than  |5  a  week.  Fifteen  per 
cent  of  the  women  were  earning  less  than  $5  and  56  per  cent 
of  the  total  receive  less  than  $7  per  week.  Only  18  per  cent  of 
the  total  receive  $9  or  more.  A  large  majority  of  these  employes 
are  receiving  less  than  a  wage  sufficient  to  maintain  a  woman 
independently. 


48 


[48 


A  special  investigation  was  made  of  the  men's  clothing 
industry.  Figures  were  secured  relative  to  the  wages  of  1,569 
women  or  more  than  60  per  cent  of  the  total  number  employed 
in  this  industry.  The  statistics  for  the  different  establishments 
studied  cover  the  wages  of  all  female  employees  on  the  regular 
factory  payroll.  The  principal  facts  obtained  from  this  study 
are  summarized  by  the  following  table  which  show  both  the 
number  and  proportion  of  women  falling  into  specified  wage 
groups.  The  computations  are  based  on  the  average  weekly 
wages  received  by  the  women  during  the  time  of  employment. 

NUMBER   OF   FEMALES   AND   PER   CENT   BY   WAGE    GROUPS   IN   FACTORIES 
WHERE   PAYROLL  WAS   SECURED. 


Wage. 

Under  $3. 

$3-$3.99. 

$4-$4.99. 

$5-$5.99. 

$6-$6.99. 

$7-$7.99. 

No.  earning 

160 
10.  19 

147 
9.37 

126 

8.3 

183 
11.67 

172 
10.97 

167 
10.64 

Wage. 

$8-$8.99. 

$9-$9.99. 

$10-$11.99 

$12-$14.99 

$15  &  over. 

Total. 

No.  earning 

189 
12.4 

148 
9.43 

186 
11.86 

79 
5.04 

12 
.76 

1,569 
100 

A  number  of  significant  facts  are  apparent  from  the  fore- 
going table  although  a  small  number  of  children  are  included 
in  the  aggregate,  they  form  less  than  one-half  of  the  females 
classified  in  the  lowest  wage  group.  Again,  the  first  five  groups 
including  all  those  earning  less  than  |7  per  week,  comprise 
15.23  per  cent  of  the  total  number  of  females  employed,  while 
more  than  60  per  cent  average  less  than  $8  per  week.  Very 
few  receive  more  than  $12.  It  is  clear  therefore  that  the  major- 
ity of  the  female  wage  workersare  receiving  less  than  a  rea- 
sonable wage.  Evidently  a  large  proportion  of  the  women  are 
not  entirely  dependent  on  their  own  earnings. 

Annual  Wages — In  order  to  eliminate  the  consideration  of 
unemployment  and  to  learn  the  amount  a  steady  worker  in  the 
clothing  might  expect  as  an  annual  income  on  which  to  live, 
the  wages  of  all  women  working  11  months  or  more  were  given 
separate  consideration.  Out  of  a  total  of  581  women  only  140 
fell  into  this  group.  The  total  wages  received  by  these  140 
women  are  shown  in  the  following  table: 


48] 


49 


Number  of  women  earning 


Establishment  No. 


Total 
No.  of 
women. 


$55  or  more  a  year. 

$400-8499 

$300-$399 

$200-8299 

$100-8200 


24 

25 

12 

6 

1 


Totals. 


36 


68 


32 


38 
43 
46 
12 
1 

140 


This  table  shows  that  59  or  over  42  per  cent  of  the  140 
workers  who  are  employed  11  months  or  more  each  earn  less  than 
$4  or  less  than  an  average  of  $7.70  for  the  entire  year.  Again, 
81  or  58  per  cent  of  the  regular  all  year  workers  received  more 
than  $4  each  but  these  constitute  less  than  14  per  cent  of  the 
entire  number  of  women  employed  in  the  five  establishments. 
The  remainder  because  of  irregular  or  part  time  work  naturally 
earn  much  less  than  those  working  regularly  throughout  the 
year. 

Earnings  and  Age  of  Women  Workers — The  relation  which 
age  bears  to  the  wages  received  although  a  factor  of  consider- 
able importance  cannot  be  shown  because  the  data  were  not 
available  for  a  complete  study.  The  following  table  based  on 
the  women  workers  in  two  establishments,  making  men's  cloth- 
ing shows: 

RELATION   OF   AGE    TO    EARNINGS. 


Age. 

Earnings 

Under  $4. 

Under  $8 

Under  $6. 

$8  and  over. 

Total. 

16-17 

18-19            

8 
7 
4 
2 

27 

27 

17 

7 

4 

4 

2 

73 

61 

45 

47 

13 

14 

9 

7 

121 

17 
56 
53 
20 

25 

7 

113 
135 

20-24 .  .                 

121 

25-29 

42 

30-39 

43 

40-49 

1 

21 

9 

Not  reported 

25 

125 

344 

Totals 

47 

161 

317 

305 

830 

Although  the  table  shows  that  over  one-half  of  all  the 
workers  were  receiving  less  than  $8  per  week,  the  relation  to 
age  is  somewhat  obscured  by  the  high  proportion  of  women 
whose  age  was  not  ascertained.  IL  appears  however  that  wages 
gradually  increase  being  highest  for  women  about  30  years  of 

48 — 4. 


50 


[48 


age  and  then  decline,  but  at  best  55  per  cent  of  the  women 
earn  less  than  $8  per  week.  On  the  other  hand  a  rapid  rise  in 
wages  is  indicated  among  the  women  with  only  two  or  three 
years  experience.  Rigid  limits  seem  to  be  reached  in  a  short 
time  and  a  large  proportion  of  women  never  reach  an  $8  wage. 
Unemployment — A  weekly  living  wage  does  not  consti- 
tute a  yearly  living  wage  and  in  but  a  small  proportion  of  cases 
is  the  annual  wage  a  product  of  the  weekly  wage  multiplied  by 
52.  The  facts  relating  to  factory  one  (1)  indicate  a  total  sus- 
pension of  activities  for  a  period  of  seven  weeks  and  a  fluctua- 
tion of  the  number  of  women  employees  during  the  remainder 
of  the  term  between  36  and  54,  while  the  number  of  different 
women  employed  during  the  year  was  85.  In  factory  two  (2) 
the  forced  unemployment  lasted  only  three  weeks,  and  the 
number  of  women  employees  varied  from  10  to  16,  but  forty 
different  women  were  employed  during  the  year.  Factory  three 
(3)  did  not  shut  down  during  the  year,  but  employed  86  differ- 
ent women  and  the  number  working  at  any  one  time  fluctuated 
from  33  to  15,  the  extremes  being  actually  reached  within  a 
period  of  ten  weeks.  It  is  clear  even  from  these  meager  facts 
that  forced  unemployment  must  be  a  serious  problem  and  that 
in  an  industry  in  which  the  gravest  conditions  do  not  exist. 
In  certain  industries  of  a  distinctly  seasonable  character  such 
as  candy  makers,  paper  box  manufacturers  and  the  fur  indus- 
tries, unemployment  assumes  a  serious  aspect. 

Irregularity  of  employment  is  an  important  factor  of  em- 
ployment. That  an  alarming  amount  of  such  irregularity 
exists  is  indicated  by  the  facts  presented  in  the  following  table 
relating  to  the  duration  of  employment  in  two  establishments 
manufacturing  men's  clothing. 


Factory  1. 

Factory  2. 

Total. 

Not  over  4  weeks 

79 

37 

19 

8 

10 

5 

4 

8 

9 

6 

3 

9 

34 

76 

21 

9 

15 

14 

7 

3 

9 

8 

11 

11 

13 

68 

155 

5-9  weeks 

58 

9—12  weeks 

29 

13-16  weeks 

23 

17-20  weeks 

24 

21-24  weeks 

12 

25-28  weeks 

7 

29-32  weeks 

17 

33-36  weeks 

17 

37-40  weeks 

17 

41—44  weeks : 

14 

45-48  weeks 

'>2 

49—52  weeks 

102 

Totals 

231 

265 

496 

48] 


51 


The  following  table  summarizes  the  irregularity  in  a  typical 
woman's  clothing  factory.  The  table  is  based  on  a  study  of 
146  women  out  of  a  total  of  219  employed.  The  women  who 
spent  less  than  4  weeks  in  the  establishment  were  not  studied. 


Number 

of 
women. 

Average 

days 
worked. 

Average  loss 
of  time 
in  days. 

Per  cent  of 
women 
studied. 

Regular    workers    working    part    of 

37 
53 

32 

24 

146 

73 

135.4 

288.7 

65.9 
247.6 

S.S 
12.  1 

17.0 
57.6 

25.3     ■ 

Working  all  year 

36.3 

Irregular  workers  working   part   of 

21.9 

Working  all  year 

16.5 
100 

No.  in  factory  less  than  4  weeks.  . 

Totals                      

219 

It  appears  that  in  the  men's  clothing  factories  studied  nearly 
one  third  of  the  w^omen  studied  and  in  the  women's  factory, 
exactly  one-third  have  been  employed  less  than  four  weeks. 
Some  of  these  will  of  course  continue,  but  many  never  work 
beyond  this  time.  In  the  men's  clothing  factories  more  than 
one-half  of  the  women  have  served  less  than  6  months,  while 
in  the  women's  clothing  establishments  the  percentage  includ- 
ing those  working  less  than  4  weeks  is  less  higher.  Of  the  total 
number  of  women  employed  in  the  two  classes  of  establishments 
20  per  cent  and  35  per  cent  respectively  had  been  employed 
either  regularly  or  irregularly  for  the  entire  year.  It  is  clear 
therefore  that  the  large  amount  of  woman  labor  is  irregular. 
Whether  this  is  due  to  personal  conditions  or  to  problems  of 
industry  the  general  effect  both  upon  the  regular  and  irregular 
worker  cannot  be  advantageous  and  must  seriously  affect  gen- 
eral wage  conditions.  An  observation  of  these  facts  indicates 
at  least  two  very  important  needs.  First,  the  regulation  of 
non-employment;  second,  the  establishment  of  regular  rates  of 
wages  that  will  compensate  for  a  limited  amount  of  forced  unem- 
ployment. 

Many  of  the  high  grade  employers  are  already  devising 
methods  of  their  own  for  the  regulation  of  non-employment 
and  something  has  been  accomplished  through  a  better  system 
of  co-operation  between  the  sales  force  and  factory  superin- 
tendents. One  of  the  factories  studied  wherein  the  wage  paid 
per  week  was  exceptionally  high  shows  that  the  em- 
ployees    in     nearly     every     case     actually      earn     about     $2 


52  [48 

less  per  week  than  the  full  rale  of  wages.  This  was  brought 
to  the  attention  of  the  manager  who  stated  that  in  order  to  keep 
help  and  to  maintain  their  standard  of  efTiciency  it  was  neces- 
sary to  regulate  unemployment  as  well  as  to  pay  high  wages. 

The  recognition  by  the  employer  that  he  cannot  evade  all 
responsibility  for  unemployment  is  a  wholesome  tendency  and 
should  eventually  gain  good  results. 

It  was  found  in  the  factories  investigated  that  the  ventila- 
tion toilets  and  sanitary  conditions  were  on  the  whole  better  in 
the  larger  factories  than  in  the  smaller  ones,  though  there  still 
remains  much  to  be  improved.  The  condition  of  the  contract 
shops  was  not  good.  Old  buildings,  cheap  and  bad  locations, 
carelessness,  and  rush  all  contributed  to  the  unsanitary  condi- 
tions and  general  appearance  of  unhealthfulness  in  the  shop. 
There  is  little  work  done  in  unsanitary  homes.  The  control  of 
home  finishing  seems  effective  and  this  phase  of  the  clothing 
industry  needs  little  attention.  The  problems  of  sanitary  im- 
provement and  of  trade  organizations  are  the  chief  problems 
of  contract   shops. 

The  Corporations — As  a  part  of  the  intensive  investigation 
in  the  men's  clothing  industry  a  special  study  was  made  of 
the  industry  from  the  standpoint  of  its  organization.  The  end 
in  view  was  to  learn  whether  by  virtue  of  the  privilege  granted 
by  the  state  to  a  body  of  men  to  create  a  new  legal  entity  with 
new  powers  and  rights — the  corporation — the  state  was  not 
in  one  section  of  its  statutes  the  very  evils  it  would  attempt  to 
remedy  through  remedial  legislation.  And  almost  as  an  auxil- 
iary to  this  to  answer  the  objections  of  many  humane  and  effi- 
cient manufacturers  who  with  righteous  indignation  are  opposed 
to  any  action  on  the  part  of  the  state  to  interfere  with  their 
personal  business  affairs  no  matter  how  low  the  stipulated  wages 
may  be. 

It  was  possible  to  secure  information  from  167  establish- 
ments and  it  was  found  that  all  the  establishments  of  more 
than  25  workers  employed  women.  It  is  not  surprising  then 
that  23  out  of  the  63  or  36.5  per  cent  of  the  establishments  em- 
ploying both  men  and  women,  were  corporations. 

This  36.5  per  cent  incorporated  estabUshments  employed 
100  per  cent  of  the  children  in  the  industry,  91.18  per  cent  of 
the  women  in  the  industry.  Therefore  the  welfare  of  the  women 
in  this  industry  is  dependent  upon  conditions  existing  in  the  cor- 
porations.    Again  the  proportion  of  women  paid  less  than  $7 


48]  53 

per  week  was  greater  among  the  corporations  than  in  either 
establishments  organized  as  partnerships  or  as  individual  con- 
cerns. 


Method  of  organization. 


Per  cent  female  force 

paid  less  than  $7 

per  week. 


Corporations . 
Partnership.  . 
Individuals.  . 


38.8 
35.2 
30.1 


It  is  clear  therefore  in  this  industry  the  conditions  under 
which  women  labor  are  closely  allied  with  conditions  existing 
in  the  incorporated  establishments  and  the  president  of  a  cor- 
poration receiving  his  protection  through  statute  cannot  con- 
sistently deny  the  states  the  right  to  protect  the  women  wage 
earners. 

The  results  showed  that  in  factories  manufacturing  about 
the  same  grade  of  goods  and  employing  about  the  same  number 
of  women  some  paid  practically  all  of  their  w^omen  employees 
a  wage  of  less  than  $7  a  week,  while  others  employed  a  very 
small  proportion  under  that  amount.  The  large  establishments 
employing  a  large  proportion  of  women  paid  a  larger  propor- 
tion less  than  $7  per  week  than  did  the  smaller  factories  in  the 
same  industry.  For  example  in  the  men's  clothing  industry 
36.7  per  cent  of  the  women  earn  less  than  |7  per  week.  The 
six  establishments  employing  from  100  to  500  w^omen  as  a  class 
pay  a  larger  proportion  of  their  women  employees  less  than  $7 
per  week,  and  the  range  of  percentages  is  from  32  to  46.  For 
the  smaller  factories  the  range  is  even  greater  because  of  a  lack 
of  organization,  but  on  the  whole  the  smaller  factories  pay 
higher  wages  to  a  larger  proportion  of  their  employees. 

The  factory  utilizes  the  machinery  to  its  highest  capacity. 
In  estimating  cost  of  production  every  effort  is  made  to  keep 
an  accurate  of  the  original  cost,  cost  of  repairs,  depreciation  of 
the  machine,  and  cost  of  labor.  If  the  industry  does  not  pay  a 
living  wage,  then  only  the  original  cost  of  labor  is  paid  by  the 
factory.  The  community  must  bear  the  cost  of  illness,  and  of 
old  age. 

Women  Adrift — The  federal  report  on  wage  earning  women 
in  St.  Louis  estimates  that  78.4  per  cent  of  the  women  employed 
in  factories  and  79  per  cent  of  those  employed  in  mercantile 
establishments  live  at  home  and  that  the  remainder  21.6  per- 


54  [48 

cent  and  21  per  cent  respectively  are  adrift — dependent  entirely 
on  their  own  earnings  and  without  the  semblance  of  their  orig- 
inal home  environment. 

More  than  7,000  women  therefore  must  be  adrift  in  St. 
Louis.  There  are  approximately  35,000  women  workers  in  the 
city.  In  addition  there  are  other  groups  such  as  waitresses  and 
laundresses,  a  considerable  portion  of  whom  must  also  be  adrift. 

Cost  of  Living — Estimates  made  by  investigators  in  Kansas 
City,  St.  Louis  and  elsewhere  in  1,200  cases  show  the  cost 
of  living  per  week  to  be:  food,  $3.50;  rent,  %2;  clothing,  $1.53; 
laundry,  25  cents;  carfare,  60  cents;  amusements,  20  cents; 
church,  5  cents;  insurance,  10  cents;  vacation,  10  cents;  medical 
attention,  20  cents;  total,   $8.53. 

In  the  matter  of  rent,  two  of  fifty  self  supporting  women 
were  found  to  be  keeping  house,  11  boarded  in  private  families, 
12  lived  in  lodgings,  and  6  in  organized  boarding  houses.  In 
the  decadent  gloominess  of  the  downtown  district  prices  range 
from  $1.50  to  $4  with  a  prevailing  quotation  of  $2  a  week.  In 
the  southside,  board  with  lodging  may  be  secured  for  $3.50  to 
$4.50  per  week.  On  the  northside  are  found  Italian  and  Jewish 
families  living  in  tenements,  willing  to  crowd  an  additional  per- 
son into  congested  rooms  for  a  minimum  of  $3  to  $4  a  week. 
The  West  End  is  the  aristocratic  quarter  from  the  standpoint 
of  the  working  woman.  The  minimum  charge  is  $4  a  w^eek  fgr 
rent  with  $5  as  the  prevailing  price.  The  wide  spread  area  of 
St.  Louis  residence  and  business  district  makes  the  60  cents 
carfare  an  inevitable  feature  of  a  woman's  budget.  It  may  be 
regarded  as  a  part  of  the  lodging  cost.  It  is  too  often  saved  at 
a  heavy  sacrifice  of  comfort  and  in  the  worst  cases  at  a  moral 
hazard. 

Investigation  of  the  food  cost  discloses  the  importance  of 
the  recent  rise  of  prices  on  the  working  girl's  budget.  Investi- 
gation shows  a  rise  of  50  to  100  per  cent  in  the  price  of  important 
foods  which  she  purchases.  Co-operative  housekeeping  ofTers 
much  of  the  atmosphere  of  a  home  but  the  working  girl  as  a 
housekeeper  struggles  against  severe  handicaps.  She  necessarily 
visits  the  market  late  and  gets  inferior  goods;  she  craves  stimu- 
lating food  because  nervously  depleted;  and  she  is  poorly  nour- 
ished because  her  work  leaves  her  little  energy  or  inclination 
for  the  duties  of  a  housekeeper  and  because  the  temptation  to 
save  on  food  to  eke  out  a  meager  income  is  too  often  yielded  to. 
The  accurate  accounts  of  the  city  school  board  as  well  as  the 


48]  55 

price  lists  of  the  Young  Women's  Christian  Association  cafeteria, 
quoting  at  cost,  support  the  conclusion  that  $3.50  is  the  mini- 
mum for  busy  and  inexpert  housekeepers  drawn  from  among 
working  women. 

The  conclusion  that  $5.50  represents  the  minimum  charge 
for  board  and  lodging  which  will  allow  a  full  self  support  is  en- 
forced by  the  results  of  a  special  study  of  the  nine  organized 
boarding   houses   in   St.    Louis. 

The  third  important  item  is  the  charge  of  $80  per  year  for 
clothing.  This  is  lower  than  the  majority  of  estimates  but 
agrees  with  the  similar  charges  in  the  Kansas  City  study.  The 
fact  that  the  working  girl  frequently  purchases  clothing  on  the 
installment  plan  throws  additional  light  on  the  seriousness  of 
her  problem  and  on  her  financial  insecurity, 

The  other  items  in  the  budget  are  of  less  importance  judged 
by  money  spent — but  of  vast  importance  as  measured  by  the 
content  of  working  women's  lives.  If  it  is  written  that  men 
shall  not  live  by  bread  alone,  should  we  not  write  that  wage 
earning  women  shall  not  be  expected  to  live  upon  food,  lodging 
and  carfare  with  a  modest  provision  of  clothing? 

The  estimate  adds  25  cents  weekly  for  laundry,  5  cents  for 
church,  10  cents  for  vacation  and  10  cents  for  insurance — repre- 
senting savings — 20  cents  for  amusements,  and  supposing  that 
wages  will  be  high  enough  to  allow  an  expenditure  of  $10  for  dental 
medical  and  optical  attention.  A  study  of  actual  budgets  proves 
that  working  women  are  frequently  compelled  to  forego  needed 
medical  attention  because  a  meager  wage  prohibits  the  expense. 

The  minimum  estimate  adopted  $8.53  per  week  is  approved 
by  the  actual  income  and  expenditures  of  41  of  50  girls  who 
gave  full  statement.  Of  the  41,  9  had  incomes  of  $3  to  $5.99 
per  week,  8  from  $6  to  $6.99,  8  from  $7  to  $7.99,  9  from  $8  to 
$9.99,   and   7  of  $10  or  over. 

Deficits  were  incurred  by  12  women  in  the  three  groups 
with  the  smallest  incomes.  Deficits  disappear  only  when  the 
$8  income  is  surpassed.  Practically  half  of  these  receiving  less 
than  $8  incurred  a  deficit.  And  the  showing  is  still  incomplete 
since  33  of  the  50  girls  were  compelled  to  supplement  their 
wages  from  other  sources.  Thus  the  conclusion  is  justified  that 
this  is  the  lowest  income  which  will  give  the  desired,  universal 
prevalence  of  high  standards  of  physical,  mental  and  moral 
activity  among  women  wage  earners. 


56 


[48 


ESTIMATES   OF   LIVING   WAGES   FOR   WOMEN   WORKERS. 


St.  Louis. 

Kansas   City. 

Boston. 

Oregon  State 

Week. 

Year. 

Week. 

Year. 

Week. 

Year. 

Week. 

Year. 

Food 

3.50 
2.00 
1.53 
.25 
.60 
.20 
.10 

182.00 
104.00 
80.00 
13.00 
31.20 
10.40 
5.00 

3.00 

2.00 

1.50 

.40 

.60 

169.70 
74.81 
88.99 

4.00 

2.48 

1.92 

.55 

.52 

.54 

156.00 

128.96 

100.00 

27.50 

27.04 

28.00 

3. 50 
2.00 
1.35 
.20 
.60 
.09 
.19 
.08 
.10 

300 . 00 

Bent        

Clothing 

130.00 

25.00 

30.00 

25   00 

Education 

17.06 

.07 
.10 

3.65 
5.20 

10.00 

Church              

.05 
.10 

2.60 
5.20 

10.00 

Savings   

31.63 
22.09 

Medical 

.20 

10.00 

1.00 

.42 

32.09 

.17 

15.00 

Totals 

8.53 

443 . 40 

8.50 

504.28 

10.60 

551.34 

8.28 

545 . 00 

$10  per  week. 


Minnesota  estimate:  Food  $4.80,  rent  $2,  clothing  50  cents, 
laundry  25  cents,  carfare  25  cents,  amusements  10  cents,  vaca- 
tion 10  cents,  church  6  cents,  medical  attention  30  cents,  total 
18.65. 

Duluth,  Wisconsin,  fixes  an  estimate  of  $8.50  per  week  as 
the  lowest  estimate. 

Examination  of  these  figures  show  that  estimates  of  the 
necessary  cost  of  living  for  women  workers  varied  from  the  mini- 
mum of  $6.50  per  week  to  a  maximum  of  $10.60.  The  estimates 
fall  into  three  clearly  marked  groups.  Those  of  $10  or  more, 
those  of  $7,  and  those  near  the  St.  Louis  and  Kansas  City  esti- 
mates of  $8.50.  The  estimates  below  $7  represent  the  cost  of 
living  at  the  subsistence  level,  not  a  living  wage.  They  include 
only  a  minimum  provision  of  food  and  lodging,  clothing,  laundry 
and  carfare.  They  allow  nothing  for  illness,  or  recreation.  At 
the  other  extreme  the  estimate  of  over  $10  represent  rather  an 
ideal  standard  of  confort  rather  than  a  practical  living  wage. 
The  higher  range  of  prices  in  Oregon  reflected  by  the  higher 
provision  for  food  accounts  for  a  large  part  of  the  increased  cost 
in  that  case.  It  will  be  noted  that  the  St.  Louis  estimate  not 
only  agrees  with  that  of  Kansas  City  but  is  in  close  correspond- 
ence with  the  estimates  made  in  Massachusetts,  Minnesota 
and  Wisconsin  as  a  basis  of  actual  wage  awards. 


48]  57 

In  considering  the  item  of  clothing  the  first  influencing 
factor  is  occupation.  A  department  store  clerk  usually  is  re- 
quired to  wear  black  or  white.  She  must  have  a  clean  blouse 
each  morning.  Thus  the  question  of  laundry  is  added  to  a  prob- 
lem already  vexatious.  The  factory  girl  on  the  other  hand, 
while  she  wears  her  suit  to  work,  usually  dons  a  gingham  apron 
to  run  the  machine  in,  by  which  means  her  street  clothes  are 
saved  the  wear  and  tear  that  those  of  a  girl  in  a  shop  receives. 
Many  of  course  cannot  afford  the  separate  aprons  which  are 
quite  expensive,  costing  between  50  cents  and  75  cents  apiece. 
Standing  all  day  brings  the  shoe  bill  up  and  the  practice  of 
buying  damaged  shoes  from  98  cents  to  $1.15  rather  than  higher 
priced  footwear  seems  to  be  quite  universal.  Another  impor- 
tant phase  of  the  clothes  question  is  the  allowance  of  time  and 
energy  which  a  girl  has  to  repair  and  freshen  up  her  wardrobe. 
Girls  put  to  work  at  14  have  had  but  little  chance  to  learn  dress- 
making. Even  if  they  have  a  few  ideas  of  how  to  fit  or  make 
over,  there  is  but  little  inclination  left  to  do  so  after  9  hours 
of  turning  bags,  or  sewing  buttons  on  overalls.  The  final  cost 
of  a  wardrobe  is  also  affected  by  the  amount  of  cash  possessed 
at  the  date  of  purchase.  Installment  houses  do  a  thriving 
business  with  wage  earning  women  and  for  weeks  sometimes 
months  an  undue  amount  of  each  payroll  goes  faithfully  to  the 
advancer  of  such   credit. 

Of  the  total  number  of  girls  interviewed,  10  sent  their 
laundry  out,  17  did  it  themselves,  and  15  were  fortunate  enough 
to  have  it  done  by  someone  else  free  of  charge.  The  average 
yearly  amount  spent  by  those  sending  their  laundry  out  was 
$16.54,  those  doing  it  at  home  $5.49. 

Most  of  the  girls  did  some  sewing  but  only  eleven  attempted 
to  reduce  their  cost  of  living  by  buying  materials  and  then  making 
the  necessary  garments  themselves.  The  average  cost  for  a 
year  for  this  group  was  S64.19.  That  for  the  group  buying  ready 
to  wear  garments  was  $72.05. 

The  following  figures  show  an  average  of  what  100  girls 
spent  for  clothes  April  1,  1913,  to  April  1,  1914. 

Winter  coat  $10,  suit  $10  (made  from  remnant),  separate 
skirt  $1.50,  seven  waists  $3.71  (three  at  57  cents  and  four  50 
cents),  four  blue  underskirts  $2.40,  two  aprons  45  cents,  dress 
materials  $1,  underwear  $2.30,  6  pair  hose  $2,  2  corsets  $2.54, 
6  corset  covers  $2.10,  2  dozen  handkerchiefs  60  cents,  a  pair 
silk  gloves  50  cents,   five  pair  shoes  $7.95,   purse  S2.98,  total 


58  [48 

$50.03.  These  girls  earned  an  average  of  $6.49  a  week,  seaming 
overalls.     Most  of  them  did  their  own  washing  and  sewing. 

The  following  figures  show  normal  outfit  of  a  working  girl. 

Winter:  Coat  $10,  separate  skirt  $3.75,  3  waists  $3,  one 
silk  waist  $2,  one  work  hat  $1.25,  dress  hat  $3,  two  pair  shoes 
$5,  1  pair  rubbers  75  cents,  one  black  petticoat  75  cents,  two 
union  sutis  $2,  one  corset  $1,  2  pairs  gloves  $1.18,  three  corset 
covers  75  cents,  2  nightgowns  $1,  2  aprons  90  cents,  cleaning 
$1.50,  total  $37.83. 

Summer:  Spring  suit  $12.50,  material  for  dress  $2.50,  wash 
skirt  $1,  four  shirt  waists  $4,  work  hat  $1.50,  dress  hat  $3.25, 
white  oxfords  $1.98,  black  oxfords  $2.25,  5  pairs  hose  $1.25,  6 
vests  90  cents,  4  pairs  drawers  $1,  2  petticoats  $1,  2  pair  gloves 
50  cents,  two  jumpers  $1.40,  total  $35.03.  Odds  and  ends, 
hair  pins  50  cents,  veil  25  cents,  purse  $1,  umbrella  $1,  belt 
50  cents,  powder  50  cents,  ties  25  cents,  repairs  75  cents,  2  dozen 
handkerchiefs  $1.20,  ribbons  44  cents,  pins  75  cents,  total  $7.14. 
Grand  total  for  year  $80.00. 

This  estimate  was  made  in  Kansas  City. 

Boston  figures  show  a  group  of  factory  girls  spent  $70.71. 
Similar  figures  from  St.   Louis  show  an  expenditure  of  $75.00. 


Reinvestigation  of  86  Subpoenas  Issued  by  the  Senate  Wage 
Commission  as  Made  by  the  School  of  Social  Economy 
of  Washington  University. 

Following  the  June,  1913,  meeting  of  the  Senate  Wage 
Commission  for  women  and  children  of  Missouri,  held  in  St. 
Louis  at  which  100  women  from  various  establishments,  mer- 
cantile and  industrial,  were  subpoenaed,  86  of  these  subpoenas 
were  turned  over  to  the  School  of  Social  Economy  of  Washing- 
ton University.  Concerning  these  subpoenas  the  school  sub- 
mits to  the  Commission  the  following  report: 

"An  attempt  was  made  to  visit  personally  every  person 
whose  name  appeared  on  the  subpoena  in  her  own  home.  Of 
the  86  subpoenaed,  35  could  not  be  investigated  for  one  of  the 
following  reasons: 

"(a)  Wrong  addresses,  12;  (b)  no  address,  13;  (c)  moved  out 
of  town,  3;  (d)  married,  2;  (e)  died,  1;  (f)  men  supoenaed,  5; 
total  35. 


48]  59 

"Fifly-one  cases  remain.  A  printed  schedule  of  questions 
was  filled  out  for  each  of  these  cases  with  a  view  of  getting 
definite  information  concerning — (a)  wage  income  for  year; 
(b)  expenditure  for  year;  (c)  conditions  of  employment;  (d) 
living  conditions.  Each  of  the  51  girls  was  visited,  some  several 
times,  until  the  schedule  was  complete  and  the  material  ready 
for  analysis.  In  turn  the  superintendents  of  the  establish- 
ments were  interviewed  on  the  nature  of  the  previous  investi- 
gation so  that  the  report  might  present  fairly  the  opinion  of 
the  employer  and  employee. 

''Analysis — Speaking  generally,  the  small  number  of  cases 
renders  the  report  practically  worthless  as  a  source  of  valuable 
information  for  the  wage  situation  in  St.  Louis,  because  the 
information  is  too  meager  to  permit  of  generalizations.  However, 
it  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  proportion  of  girls  adrift  and 
at  home  as  shown  by  these  51  cases  is  very  similar  to  that  esti- 
mated in  the  Federal  Report  on  Wage  Earning  "Women  in  Fac- 
tories and  stores;  21  per  cent  was  the  proportion  registered  as 
adrift  in  St.  Louis.  But  of  the  51  girls  visited,  9  girls,  or  17  per 
cent  were  found  to  be  adrift,  that  is  they  board  in  lodging  or 
boarding  houses  or  were  themselves  solely  responsible  for  sup- 
porting a  disabled  parent  or  relative.  It  was  difficult  to  obtain 
exact  data.  Most  of  the  girls  had  never  kept  an  account  of  their 
expenditures  and  could  only  give  a  rough  guess  as  to  the  pro- 
portion spent  for  the  different  articles.  A  large  majority  of  the 
42  girls  living  at  home  handed  their  wages  over  entirely  to  their 
mother.  The  mother  put  this  into  the  general  saving  exchequer 
and  then  proceeded  to  give  the  girl  whatever  she  desired,  with- 
out reference  to  the  fact  whether  or  not  the  girl  had  earned  the 
money.  In  other  cases  a  certain  amount  w^as  paid  regularly 
to  the  mother,  but  even  so  she  was  apt  to  supply  the  deficit 
bound  to   occur  from  time  to  time. 

''Wage  in  Case— The  model  wage  was  $6  to  $6.99.  No  girl 
getting  less  than  $3  was  subpoenaed  and  only  two  who  were 
making  between  $3  and  $3.99.  One  of  these  was  a  cash  girl 
and  the  other  employed  in  a  shoe  factory.  Both  board  at  home. 
The  average  wage  of  the  51  females  was  $6.59.  However,  con- 
siderable unemployment  was  registered  and  this  greatly  reduced 
the  wage  income  of  the  individual  girls.  Chief  among  the  causes 
of  absence  from  work  was  illness  or  accident,  32  per  cent  of  the 
cases  suffering  from  unemployment  having  given  this  as  their 
reason.     Looking  for  work,  vacations  and  other  personal  rea- 


60 


[48 


sons  were  causes  assigned  in  42  per  cent  of  the  cases,  and  the  re- 
mainder may  be  classified  under  'slack  work'  and  'stock  taking.' 

" Expenditures  for  the  Year — The  estimates  under  this  head 
are  most  irregular.  Often  the  girl  said  that  it  would  be  irhpossible 
to  give  an  estimate.  In  such  cases  the  expenses  mentioned 
were  added  and  the  whole  subtracted  from  the  year's  income, 
and  in  nearly  every  case  the  margin  left  was  so  small  that  the 
agent  was  tempted  to  inquire  where  the  girl  got  the  very  clothes 
she  had  on. 

"Conditions  of  Employment — Almost  no  overtime  was  found. 
In  some  cases  there  was  conflicting  testimony  on  the  part  of 
different  girls  employed  in  the  same  establishment.  In  the  case 
of  a  telegraph  operator  the  hours  worked  were  perfectly  legal 
and  paid  for  at  an  increased  rate.  This  was  not  found  to  be 
general. 

"But  of  ten  cases  reporting  fines,  six  were  for  tardiness, 
and  the  amounts  ranged  from  5  to  15  cents  per  hour.  In  shoe 
factories  the  girls  have  to  buy  the  shoes  if  they  spoil  them,  but 
one  girl  interviewed,  said  that  they  did  this  at  auction  and  it 
caused  little  trouble.  In  one  case  a  fine  was  charged  for  placing  a 
wrong  address  on  a  parcel  and  another  girl  was  fined  25 
cents  for  laughing. 

"Commissions  were  not  registered  on  but  one  of  the  sched- 
ules, though  it  is  well  known  that  several  of  the  large  firms 
pay  a  set  wage  and  allow  from  12  per  cent  to  2  per  cent  after  a 
certain  amount  has  been  sold.  From  this  one  might  infer  that 
the  girl  had  not  gone  beyond  the  alloted  sales.  Employers  for 
the  most  part  seemed  proud  of  their  places  and  quite  willing 
to  have  them  investigated.  In  certain  cases  they  were  proud  of 
the   conditions   of   employment. 

''Living  Conditions — The  most  serious  problem  which  will 
naturally  be  viewed  as  a  result  of  low  wages  is  the  living  condi- 
tions of  the  working  girl.  The  schedule  card  provided  for  a 
rating  of  the  housing  conditions  by  the  agent,  which  depended 
solely  on  the  agent's  individual  opinion.  Sanitary  conditions 
and  conveniences,  airy  room,  order  and  number  constituted 
the  chief  points  looked  for  in  proving  a  good  mark.  The  fol- 
lowing table  will  present   the  situations  graphically: 


A. 

B. 

C. 

D. 

No  report. 

Housing 

16 
16 
34 

18 
20 
15 

12 
10 

4 
2 
2 

1 

Food 

Health 

3 

48] 


61 


"Four  girls  lived  in  homes  showing  very  good  sanitary 
conditions.  Of  these  two  also  had  bad  food.  Poor  health  was 
found  among  girls  living  in  good  surroundings.  Their  poor  health 
was  probably  due  to  overstrain.  All  girls  living  in  homes  show- 
ing bad  housing  conditions  earned  $6  a  w^eek  or  under,  two 
earned  $6,  two  earned  $5  and  one  earned  |4.20. 

"The  following  show  the  statistical  tables  of  the  facts  learned 
in  investigating  the  homes  of  the  girls  subpoenaed  before  the 
Commission. 


WAGE 

GROUPS. 

Total  51. 

$3-$3.99 

$4-$4.99 

$5-$5.99 

$6-$6.99 

$7-$7.99 

$8-$8.99 

$9-$9.99 

Over  $10 

No.  ca.ses 

2 

8 

6 

13 

10 

3 

1 

8 

AGE   GROUPS. 


Under 
14. 

14. 

15. 

16. 

17. 

18. 

19. 

20. 

21. 

22. 

23. 

24. 

25. 

25-30. 

Over 
30. 

Cases.  .  . 

2 

10 

10 

3 

5 

2 

2 

3 

.   4 

1 

1 

8 

CAUSES   OF   UNEMPLOYMENT. 


Slack  work 

Vacation  taken .  .  . 
Looking  for  work . 
Illness  or  accident . 
Personal  reasons . . 
Stocktaking 


Total 28 


Total  number  subpoenas 86 

Not  investigated 35 


Wrong  address 12 


No  address 

Moved  out  of  town. 

Married 

Died 

Men  subpoenaed.  .  . 


13 
2 

2 
1 


Re-investigated 51 

Total  number 51 

Number  of  establishments 23 

Number  of  girls  at  home 42 

Number  of  girls  adrift ! 9 

Change  in  establishment 9 

Out  of  work 3 


Overtime. — Limgstras,  paying  1  1-3  or  30  cents  an  hour, 
optional,  no  pay.     Western  Union — legal. 


Pierce  Building,  scrubwomen 


62 


[48 


FINES. 


Causes. 


Establishments. 


Lateness 

Spoiling  shoes 

Wrong  address 

Laughing 

10  cents  an  hour.     15  cents  an  hour 


No.  of 
estab- 

Name  of  establishment. 

Estimated  of  agent. 

Ush- 
ment. 

No.  of 

cases. 

Adrift. 

At 
home. 

Hous- 
ing. 

Food. 

Health 

Was-es. 
per  wk. 

1 
2 

American  Steam  Laundry.  .  .  . 

1 
1 
2 

1 

1 
2 

D. 
B. 
D. 
C. 
B. 
C. 
A. 
C. 

C. 
B. 
D. 
C. 
B. 
C. 
A. 
A. 

Good 
Poor 
Good 
Good 
Fair 
Good 
Fair 
Good 
Fair 
Fair 
Poor 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Fair 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Fair 
Fair 
Fair 
Good 
Fair 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Fair 
Good 
Fair 
Good 
Fair 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Fair 
Fair 
Fair 
Fair 
Fair 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Good 
Good 

Good 

S6.00 
7.00 

3 

Earnhardt  Mercantile-. 

Bemis  Bag  Factory 

6.00 
4.00 

4 
5 

1 
2 

1 
2 

4.55 
7.00 

Brown  Shoe  Co 

6.50 

6 

1 
1 
1 
1 
3 

1 
1 

1 
1 

1 

2 

8.90 

7 

Crundyn  Martyn 

4.50 

8 

C. 

A. 

A. 

.  .A. 

B. 
A. 
A. 
A. 
B. 
B. 
A. 
B. 
B. 
A. 
A. 
B. 
C. 
C. 
B. 
A. 
B. 
B. 
B. 
B. 
B. 
B. 
C. 
B. 
C. 
A. 
A. 
A. 
B. 
C. 

D. 
B. 
A. 
C. 
B. 
A. 
A. 
B. 
A. 
A. 

C. 

5.00 

9 

5.00 

10 

6.00 

6.00 

B. 

B. 

A. 

B. 

B. 

A. 

A. 

B. 

B. 
H.  C. 
A.  C. 

A. 

B. 

C. 

B. 

B. 

A. 

B. 

B. 

B. 

C. 

A. 

B. 

A. 

A. 

C. 

C. 

D. 

D. 

A. 

B. 

C. 

A. 

A. 

B. 

A. 

A. 

B. 

6.00 

11 

1 
1 
3 

2 

1 
1 
1 

5.00 

12 

4.00 

13 

Lungstras  Cleaning  Co 

Nugents  Dry  Goods  Co 

National  Biscuit  Co 

11.00 
10.00 

10.00 

14 

2 

2 

6.00 
7.00 

15 
16 

1 
2 

1 

1 
1 

7.00 
6.00 

Plow's  Candy  Co 

6.00 

17 

2 

2 

7.50 

Peckham  Candy  Co 

4.50 

18 
19 

1 
2 

1 
2 

5.00 
6.00 

Penny  &  Gentle's 

Pieffer  Chemical  Co 

7.80 

20 

3 

3 

7.00 
10.00 

3.00 

21 

2 

2 

7.00 

St.  Louis  Envelope  Co 

Sunlight  Shoe  Factory 

Standard  Stamp  Co 

7.00 

22 
23 
24 

1 
1 
2 

2 

1 
1 

8.00 
3.50 
6.60 
9.00 

25 

1 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 

1 

1 
1 

1 
1 

2 

6.50 

26 
27 
28 

Samuel  Cupples  Envelope  Co. 

Schleuter  Tinware  Co 

Schaper  Bros 

5.72 
4.20 
5.00 

29 

St.  Louis  Paper  Bo.x 

6.00 

30 

Union  Biscuit  Co 

7.00 

Union  Station  Lunchroom. . . . 
Western  Union 

Friedman  Shelby  Shoe  Co. .  .  . 

10.00 

31 
32 

1 
3 

1 

1 
2 

$25    p.m. 
11.25 
11.50 

1 1 .  53 

33 
34 

1 
1 

1 

1 

6.00 

10.00 

4-5 . 00 

48]  63 


KANSAS  CITY  MEETINGS. 

June  17-18,  1913. 

Mrs.  Nan  Sperry  with  the  labor  bureaus  and  formerly  with 
the  Kansas  City  Welfare  Board,  testified  before  the  commission 
that  the  girl  who  starts  into  factory  work  at  14  is  a  wreck  at  28. 

The  woman  over  40  in  a  department  store  is  the  exception, 
Mrs.  Sperry  testified.  In  some  crafts  the  length  of  service  is  a 
low  as  two  years.  That  is  the  average  for  a  factory  girl  working 
piece  work.  The  telephone  operator  lasts  three  years,  and  in 
five  years  the  shop  girl  is  seriously  impaired. 

Social  standing,  according  to  Mrs.  Sperry,  is  largely  respon- 
sible for  congested  conditions  in  cities. 

"Caste  lines  are  sharply  drawn  among  working  girls,"  said 
Mrs.  Sperry.  "The  teacher  ranks  first.  The  saleswoman  is 
next  followed  by  the  bookkeeper,  stenographer,  factory  and 
laundry  girls,  and  the  domestic  or  housemaid  is  the  lowest  in 
the  social  scale  of  the  working  world. 

"Whom  does  the  housemaid  look  down  upon?"  Senator 
Wilson  asked. 

"She  has  only  herself  to  look  down  upon,"  Mrs.  Sperry 
replied.  "The  lines  are  even  drawn  between  the  different  classes 
of  department  store  employes.  A  millinery  or  cloak  saleswoman 
will  quit  in  a  minute  if  her  employer  puts  her  behind  the  notion 
counter." 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "What  in  your  opinion  is  the 
cause   of  these   caste  lines?" 

Answer:  "The  wage  paid  each  craft.  From  an  investiga- 
tion made  by  the  board  of  public  welfare  recently  it  was  found 
that  the  great  majority  of  fallen  women  had  been  domestics 
or  hotel  employes." 

Mrs.  Sperry  advocated  the  establishing  of  a  permanent 
wage  commission  to  arbitrate  wage  matters.  There  should  be 
a  minimum  wage  for  each  craft,  based  on  a  scientific  basis,  she 
said. 

Miss  Louis  Middlestadt,  organizer  of  the  Woman's  Trade 
Union  League  testified  as  to  conditions  she  found  in  two  fac- 
tories and  a  laundry  in  Kansas  City.  Miss  Middlestadt  worked 
in  the  factories  and  got  the  information  first  hand. 


64  [48 

"I  have  been  a  factory  girl  all  my  life,  except  a  year  and  a 
half  when  I  was  a  housemaid,"  the  witness  said.  "I  went  to 
work  for  the  Boss  Glove  Manufacturing  Company  on  lower 
Broadw^ay  January  7th  in  answer  to  an  advertisement. 

"The  forelady  told  me  I  could  make  good  money.  She 
said  some  of  the  girls  made  |12  and  $13  a  week.  The  company 
paid  the  girls  9  cents  a  dozen  pairs  for  making  gloves.  They 
retailed  for  7  cents  a  pair.  I  worked  five  days  and  made  25 
dozen  pairs.  When  I  got  my  pay  envelope  it  had  $1.85  in  it. 
That  included  a  10  per  cent  bonus  given  the  girls  at  the  end  of 
each  w^eek.  Part  of  my  pay  w^as  held  back.  They  gave  me  some 
hazy   sort   of  explanation   of  it. 

"There  were  175  girls  working  there  and  the  company  ran 
an  ad.  in  the  papers  every  day.  It  read  'Girls  wanted,  experi- 
ence unnecessary.  Good  pay.'  I  w'orked  on  the  fourth  floor. 
There  were  tw^o  stairw^ays  and  the  door  to  one  of  them  was 
locked." 

"Next  to  the  other  stairway,  betw^een  it  and  the  elevator, 
was  a  big  oil  tank.  I  believe  that  in  case  of  fire  there  many  of 
the  girls  would  lose  their  lives.  There  was  one  fire  escape  but 
the  girls  were  given  no  fire  drills. 

"Many  of  the  girls  had  had  four  or  five  years  experience. 
They  left  other  positions,  thinking  they  could  better  themselves. 
Many  of  them  w^ere  from  laundries,  w^here  they  were  forced  to 
stand  all  day  long  and  they  needed  the  rest,  if  it  could  be  called 
that.  They  sit  down  at  the  machines,  and  in  that  respect  the 
work  is  not  so  hard.  But  the  amount  of  w'ork  a  girl  must  do 
to  make  a  living  soon  makes  a  wreck  of  her. 

"It  takes  about  six  weeks  for  a  girl  to  become  able  to  earn 
90  cents  a  day.  That  means  they  must  go  into  debt  wiiile  they 
are  apprentices.  Then  when  they  begin  to  earn  the  maximum 
they  have  their  living  expenses  to  pay  and  the  old  debts  to  take 
care  of  also.  A  girl  wdll  give  the  best  that  is  in  her  if  she  thinks 
she  can  increase  her  earnings.  One  girl  told  me  that  she  would 
stay  there  if  she  could  make  a  dollar  a  day. 

"The  force  is  constantly  changing,  the  company  is  after 
apprentices  constantly.  The  girls  don't  stay  long  because  they 
have  to  work  to  the  point  of  exhaustion  to  make  a  living. 

"The  same  girl  told  me  she  had  w^orked  at  the  Silver  Laun- 
dry for  three  years  and  when  she  quit  because  of  trouble  with  her 
feet  she  was  making  $8  a  week. 

"I  applied  for  w^ork  at  Woolf  Bros.  Laundry  March  21st. 


48]  65 

I  was  put  in  the  shirt  department  where  twenty  to  twenty-two 
girls  are  employed.  Those  girls  turn  out  about  1500  shirts  a 
day  in  nine  hours.  A  shirt  passes  through  eight  hands  before 
it  is  finished.  The  bosom  ironer  makes  the  most  money.  She 
gets  50  cents  per  100  and  can  turn  out  about  500  a  day.  She 
told  me  she  had  been  there  a  year  and  felt  the  weight  of  ten  years. 

"The  finisher  was  paid  60  cents  a  hundred.  She  was  paid 
better  because  it  was  the  hardest  work.  That  is  the  reason 
the  girls  are  paid  on  the  piecework  system;  because  it  is  hard 
work. 

"In  the  mangle  room  on  the  first  floor,  the  girls  stand  on 
a  cement  floor  all  day.  They  work  nine  hours  and  get  $5  a  week. 
The  work  can  be  learned  in  a  few  minutes  and  the  laundry  can 
get  all  the  girls  it  wants.  One  woman  had  been  there  four  years. 
She  was  a  picture  of  despair,  no  future,  nothing  to  work  for 
but  a  bare  existence. 

"They  dry  the  clothes  in  a  tub  by  a  sytem  that  takes  45 
minutes.  They  pay  a  girl  |8  a  week  to  stand  over  this  tub  in 
the  intense  heat  that  must  be  necessary  to  dry  the  clothes  in 
such  a  short  time.  She  lifts  the  lid  every  minute  or  so  for  nine 
hours.  At  noon  she  simply  throws  her  lunch  in  and  rushes 
down  to  the  cloak  room  and  lies  down  to  rest  the  few  minutes 
she  has  left.  Before  the  nine  hour  law  was  passed  the  girls  had 
to  work  until  9  and   10  o'clock  some  nights. 

"There  is  no  spirit  left  in  the  girls.  They  have  great  faith 
in  this  wage  commission  and  they  watch  the  papers  every  day 
for  news  of  what  is  being  done  to  better  their  condition.  I  was 
discharged  because  I  took  some  trade  union  papers  to  work 
with  me. 

"I  went  to  work  at  the  Franklin  Feather  Company,  8  East 
Third  St.,  May  19th,  the  work  is  sorting  feathers.  It  is  the 
hardest  and  dirtiest  work  imaginable.  They  started  me  in  on 
piece  work  with  a  guarantee  of  $3  a  week.  They  have  from  ten 
to  thirty  girls  there  always  and  a  few  of  them  make  from  $5  to 
$8  a  week.  But  the  strain  is  too  much  for  them;  they  don't  last 
long  at  it. 

Question  by  Senator  Kinney:  "Are  these  girls  from  the 
country  or  are  they  city  girls,  and  why  are  they  working?" 

Answer:  "They  are  practically  all  city  girls.  They  are 
working  because  they  have  to.  Many  of  them  live  at  home  and 
have  to  support  a  father  or  a  mother  or  even  a  whole  family. 

48 — 5 


66  [48 

No  girl  works  who  doesn't  need  to  and  they  don't  work  for  pin 
money  either.  A  few  of  them  may  say  so,  but  a  girl  isn't  going 
to  make  a  wreck  of  herself  in  a  few  years  just  when  she  should 
be  in  her  prime,  if  she  doesn't  have  to. 

Question  by  Senator  Green:  "What  do  you  suggest  as 
remedies  for  these  conditions?" 

Answer:  "The  age  at  which  children  are  allowed  to  go  to 
work  should  be  raised  from  14  to  16.  Children  should  be  com- 
pelled to  go  to  a  certain  grade  in  school  rather  than  to  an  age 
limit.  Then  there  should  be  a  minimum  wage  for  each  class  of 
w^ork.  Abolish  piece  work  and  pay  $6  a  w^eek  to  beginners  and 
%\0  to   efTicient   help." 

Question:  "What  per  cent  of  girls  give  their  earnings  to 
their  families?" 

Answer:    "About  ninety  per  cent." 

Question:  "How  do  the  different  industries  rank  as  to  the 
wages   they   pay?" 

Answer:  "The  laundries  pay  the  least,  the  feather  factories 
next,  and  the  cracker  and  candy  factories  a  little  better  yet." 

Testimony  that  whiskey  is  given  fainting  girls  in  the  F. 
W.  Woolworth  10-cent  store  was  given  by  witness  No.  6,  one  of 
the  girl  employes. 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "What  is  done  for  a  girl 
when   she   faints   or  becomes  ill?" 

Answer:  "When  a  girl  faints  she  is  taken  to  the  basement 
and  put  on  a  bench.  They  give  her  whiskey  or  ammonia  and 
that's  about  all  they  do  for  her.  If  she  is  so  ill  she  can't  return 
to  work,  sometimes  one  of  the  other  girls  will  call  the  sick  girl's 
home,  if  she  has  one,  and  a  relative  or  friend  comes  after  her." 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "Is  the  whiskey  given 
under   the    direction   of   a   physician?" 

Answer:  "No,  sir.  Usually  a  floorlady  gives  it.  The  store 
hasn't  a  physician." 

Question:    "Do  they  ever  call  a  doctor  for  a  sick  girl?" 

Answer:  "I  suppose  they  would  if  they  thought  she  was 
going  to  die." 

Witness  No.  6  said  she  lived  in  Kansas  City,  Kansas  and 
came  to  Kansas  City,  Missouri  to  work  because  she  gets  better 
pay  and  shorter  hours.  She  started  to  work  18  months  before 
at  $4.50  a  week  and  gets  $5  a  week  now,  she  said. 

"I  live  with  my  aunt  and  pay  $2.50  a  week  board,"  the 
witness  said.     "I  carry  my  lunch  because  it  is  cheaper.   I  have  a 


48]  67 

brother  in  Texas  and  he  helps  me  some.  If  he  didn't,  I  don't 
know  how  I  could  get  along.    If  he  ever  marries  I'll  be  left  alone." 

Question  by  Senator  Whitledge:  "You  can  get  married  too, 
can't  you?" 

Answer:    "It's  not  so  easy." 

Question:    "How  much  does  your  counter  take  in  a  week?" 

Answer:  "Twenty  dollars  a  day,  except  Saturdays  when 
we  take  in  $30.  About* $130  a  week.  There  are  two  of  us  at 
the  counter  and  one  stool.  We  are  kept  so  busy  though  we  hardly 
ever  have  time  to  sit  down.  The  counter  must  be  kept  in  shape 
and  we  have  to  look  like  we  are  busy  all  the  time  whether  we 
are  or  not.  If  we  appear  not  to  be  busy  the  floorwalker  asks 
us  if  we  haven't  something  to  do.  They  don't  like  for  us  to  sit 
down." 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "About  this  basement. 
Has  it  ever  been  inspected  by  the  health  department?" 

Answer:  "No  not  that  I  know  of.  I  have  seen  an  inspector 
there  several  times  but  a  floorwalker  usually  manages  to  keep 
him  out  of  the  basement.  I  have  spoken  to  the  floorwalker 
several  times  about  unsanitary  conditions  in  the  basement  but 
it  does  no  good.  It's  dirty  and  there  is  no  ventilation.  It's  the 
only  place  the  girls  have  to  eat  their  lunches  or  to  go  when  they 
are   sick. 

Question:  "Do  you  ever  have  to  carry  stock  up  from  the 
basement?" 

Answer:    "Nearly  always.     And  it's  hard  work  too." 

Question:  "Aren't  there  any  men  there  to  do  that  heavy 
work?" 

Answer:  "Yes,  but  they  won't  help  if  they  can  get  out 
of  it." 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "Do  they  usually  get  out 
of  it?" 

Answer:    "Yes." 

A  pretty  frank-faced,  blue-eyed  girl,  barely  16  years  old, 
was  No.  4,  she  worked  at  the  Kresge  store  for  $5  a  week  and 
was  the  sole  support  of  her  mother  and  a  younger  brother.  She 
quit  school  a  year  before,  obtained  a  permit,  and  went  to  work 
in  a  drug  store  fro  $3.50  a  week.  Now  she  spends  eight  hours  a 
day  in  a  basement  and  gives  her  money  to  her  mother  to  pay  the 
rent  of  $12.50  a  month  and  feed  and  clothe  the  others.  Her 
health  is  perfect,  she  said,  and  she  is  glad  of  the  opportunity 
to  earn  a  living  for  her  mother  and  brother.     She  carries  her 


68  [48 

lu'ncheon  every  day  in  order  to  save  a  few  cents  and  frequently 
walks  to  and  from  the  store  to  save  ten  cents. 

Question  by  Senator  Whitledge:  "Do  you  ever  go  to  the 
parks    or    other    amusement    places." 

Answer:  "Not  very  often.  I  have  seen  Swope  Park  only 
a  few  times."      (Swope  Park  is  a  big  city  park.) 

A  widow  with  three  children  testified  she  worked  at  the 
Woolworth  store  for  $5  a  w^eek  and  supported  the  family. 

Girls  from  the  Swan,  Gate  City  and  Faultless  Laundries 
told  of  girls  fainting  occasionally  from  the  heat.  They  are 
paid  from  $7  to  $8  a  week.  When  girls  faint  stimulants  are 
given.  One  girl  living  alone  said  she  paid  $2  a  week  for  room, 
50  cents  a  day  for  board  and  bought  clothes  with  the  remainder 
of  the  $7  wage. 

"I  am  trying  to  keep  my  children  together,"  said  a  mother 
who  has  two  girls  working  and  a  boy  of  12  in  school.  "I  walk 
fourteen  blocks  to  work  in  the  Faultless  Laundry  and  get  $6 
a  week.  My  two  daughters,  one  18  and  the  other  16,  help 
me.  On  Sundays'  I  stay  home,  wash,  sew,  and  cook.  I  never 
get  to  the  parks." 

This  story  of  never  getting  to  the  parks,  even  on  Sundays 
was  told  by  most  of  the  laundry  workers.  One  girl  asserted 
she  did  not  care  to  go  out.  One  of  the  girls  had  worked  at  the 
Jones  Department  store  as  cashier  at  $5  a  week,  and  had  quit 
to  go  to  the  laundry  at  $7  a  week.  Another  told  of  becoming 
overheated  and  receiving  a  stroke  of  paralysis  when  taken 
into  a  cool  room.  She  was  ill  for  two  weeks  but  is  able  to  be 
at  work  now. 

The  statement  of  a  social  worker  that  working  girls  are 
not  welcomed  by  churches  was  borne  out  by  the  testimony 
of  Witness  No.  8.  She  was  asked  if  she  went  to  church  and 
she    answered    "sometimes." 

Question:     "Why  don't  you  go  more  often?" 

Answer:  "I  went  to  a  church  intending  to  become  a 
member.  The  first  thing  I  was  asked  was  who  my  parents  were 
and  how  much  property  they  had.  I  never  went  back  and  I 
haven't  joined  any  other  church  because  I  am  afraid  they  will 
ask  me  some  personal  questions  like  that." 

Witness  No,  8  worked  at  Woolworths.  She  has  worked 
there  over  four  years,  part  of  the  time  while  the  store  was  owned 
by  S.  H.  Knox  and  Co.   She  started  in  at  $3.50  a  week  and  makes 


48]  69 

$6.50  now.  She  is  in  charge  of  a  candy  counter.  She  lives 
at  home,  and  has  two  younger  sisters.     Her  father  is  a  carpenter. 

She  fainted  once,  she  said,  and  she  was  carried  to  the  base- 
ment and  given  ammonia.  She  became  so  ill  that  the  store 
notified  her  mother  and  she  took  the  girl  home.  "There  was 
only  a  bench  to  lie  on,"  she  said.  "That's  all  the  care  they 
take    of   girls." 

No.  8  said  she  paid  $3  a  week  board,  75  cents  a  week  for 
her  laundry  and  60  cents  for  carfare. 

"I  couldn't  get  along  on  the  $2.15  that  is  left  if  I  didn't 
live  at  home,"  she  said.  "I  am  not  very  strong  and  I  have  a 
doctor  bill  to  pay  every  month.  I  haven't  had  it  paid  up  for 
sometime  now.  Last  month  it  was  $5.  I  was  at  home  sick 
two  weeks  and  it  put  me  away  behind.  I  spend  only  what  I 
can  spare  for  clothes." 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "Do  you  attribute  your 
poor  health  to  the  fact  that  you  have  been  working  since  you 
were   15 — seven  years?" 

Answer:  "It  is  partly  due  to  that.  I  am  naturally  not 
very  strong  but  the  work  has  been  hard  and  it  has  helped  to 
make  me  weaker.  I  don't  think  I  can  stand  it  much  longer. 
I  never  go  any  place  at  night  or  on  Sunday  because  I  am  too 
tired  and  need  the  time  to  rest." 

Question  by  Senator  Whitledge:  "Is  your  work  harder 
than  that  of  a  woman  with  four  or  five  children  and  a  house  to 
care  for?" 

Answer:  "I  can't  answer  that.  I  haven't  had  any  ex- 
perience in  that  line." 

Question:  "If  you  will  pardon  a  personal  question,  I 
notice  you  have  on  rather  a  becoming  hat,  and  would  you  mind 
telling  me  what  it  cost?" 

Answer:     "Not  at  all.     It  cost  $2." 

Nine  other  witnesses  examined  showed  they  were  working 
in  stores  for  $4.50  and  §5  a  week.  Most  of  them  lived  with 
their  parents  or  relatives  and  received  some  assistance  from  them, 
and  they  said  they  were  positive  they  could  not  live  on  their 
earnings    alone. 

One  16  year  old  girl  who  was  deserted  by  her  husband 
when  her  baby  was  three  months  old,  testified  she  found  a 
position  which  paid  her  35  a  week.  Of  this  she  paid  $3  a  week 
to  her  landlady  to  take  care  of  the  baby  while  she  worked. 
The  landlady  soon  tired  of  the  baby  and  after  inserting  numerous 


70  [48 

advertisements  in  the  papers  the  girl  found  a  woman  who  took 
care  of  the  baby  for  $4  a  week.  The  mother  worked  mornings 
and  nights  for  her  own  board  and  divided  the  one  dollar  left 
her  into  carfare  and  lunches  for  the  week.  But  the  baby  needed 
medicine  and  the  mother  needed  clothes  so  she  finally  adopted 
means  other  than  work  to  secure  money. 

Waitresses  are  the  best  paid  women  workers  in  Kansas 
City  with  the  exception  of  private  secretaries  and  high  class 
stenographers.  Testimony  showed  that  many  girls  would 
rather  work  for  low^er  wages  in  factories  or  stores  than  in  hotels 
or   restaurants. 

No.  18,  a  waitress  employed  at  McClintocks,  said  that  she 
quit  a  job  as  cashier  at  $10  a  week  to  become  a  w^aitress. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "How  much  did  you 
get  as  a  waitress?" 

Answer:     "$7  a  week." 

Question:     "Why  did  you  quit?" 

Answer:  "Because  of  the  tips.  Sometimes  mj^  tips  average 
$2  a  day. 

Two  other  women  waiters  testified  their  tips  ran  from  $1.50 
to  $2  a  day.  Other  witnesses  examined  along  the  same  line 
declared  they  had  quit  restaurant  work  to  go  into  a  factory 
or  store  because  they  preferred  a  store  or  factory  work  even 
at  lower  pay. 

Three  working  women  testified  that  the  strain  of  piece- 
work in  factories  had  sent  them  to  physicians  to  be  treated  for 
nervousness. 

No.  15,  a  married  woman  employed  by  the  Loose  Wiles 
Biscuit  Company,  said  she  started  to  work  four  ^^ears  before 
at  $4.50  a  w^eek  and  now  earned  $9  a  week.  She  weighed  138 
pounds  w^hen  she  began  and  109  at  the  time  she  gave  her  testi- 
mony. She  stands  up  nine  hours  a  day  and  sits  down  only  at 
lunch.  She  never  goes  out  at  night  because  she  is  too  tired. 
She  cooks  supper  after  going  home  and  takes  care  of  two  children. 
She  went  to  Kansas  City  from  a  Missouri  farm.  She  concluded 
her  testimony  with  these  words:  "Oh,  how  I  wish  I  was  back 
there." 

No.  17  testified  she  was  the  fastest  candy  wrapper  at  the 
Loose  Wiles  factory.  She  stood  all  day  and  earned  $14  a  week. 
She  complained  only  of  the  system  in  general. 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "Show  me  how  fast 
you  can  wrap?" 


48]  71 

Answer:  "If  I  had  the  candy  here  I  would  show  you. 
I  can  work  my  hands  faster  than  your  eyes  can  follow." 

Question:     "But  can  you  stand  up   under  this  strain?" 

Answer:     "No,    I   am   getting   nervous." 

Question:     "What    causes    your    nervousness?" 

Answer:     "The    rapid    work. 

Question:     "Why  don't  you  work  slower?" 

Answer:     "I  need  the  money." 

This  witness  helps  support  a  family.  She  testified  she 
realized  she  could  not  stand  up  under  the  strain  more  than  a 
year  or  so  longer.  As  long  as  the  piecework  system  existed, 
she  declared,  girls  would  try  to  make  just  as  much  as  they  could. 

"That's  just  like  we  all  do."     Senator  Wilson  remarked. 

No.  16,  another  employe  at  the  Loose  Wiles  factory  earned 
$5.50  a  week  and  helps  support  the  family.  "I  wish  I  could 
go  back  to  school,"  she  said. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "Could  you  live  on  your 
$5.50  a  week  if  you  did  not  reside  at  home?" 

Answer:     "No    way    in    the    world." 

Question:     "Haven't   you   been   sick?" 

Answer:  I  ought  to  be  going  to  a  doctor  now,  but  I  can't 
afford  it." 

Witness  No.  20,  an  employe  of  the  Boss  Manufacturing 
Company  a  glove  making  concern  testified  she  started  work  at 
$2.90  a  week.     She  now  earns  $10. 

Another  girl  from  the  same  concern  testified  she  was  earning 
$2.50  per  week.  The  company  holds  back  one  week's  pay 
This  is  done  to  assure  the  girls  resewing  gloves  that  are  faulty. 

No.  22  testified  she  was  making  $5  a  week  at  this  glove 
factory  and  living  on  that  sum. 

Another  girl  from  the  same  factory  testified  she  made 
$2.75  the  first  w^eek.  No.  24  had  worked  a  year  at  the  factory. 
She  earned  $2.35  the  first  week,  but  now  earned  from  $1.80 
to  $2  a  day.  Between  25  and  50  girls  are  working  in  the  Boss 
factory  many  of  them  under  16  years  old. 

F.  A.  W^aller,  manager  of  the  Boss  Mfg.  Co.  was  the  next 
witness    called. 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "Why  do  you  employ  so 
many    mere    children — girls    fourteen    and    fifteen  years    old?" 

Answer:     "Well  they  want  the  work  and  we  have  the  room." 

Question:  "Why,  one  of  your  girls  was  so  infantile  when 
she    answered    my    questions    she    said    'Yes    ma'am'?"     Surely 


72  [48 

there  is  some  reason  why  they  start  into   commercial  slavery 
at  such   a  tender  age. 

Answer:     "We  have  the  room  and  they  want  the  work." 

Question:  "You  don't  consider  their  age  at  all  do  you?" 
You  consider  only  the  profit  you  can  make  from  their  childish 
bodies  for  your  employers,   don't  you?" 

Answer:     "Hardly  that." 

Question:  "But  your  only  reason  for  employing  them 
is   that  you  have  the  room  for  them?" 

Answer:  "Well,  many  of  their  parents  bring  them  up  and 
ask  us  to  give  them  employment." 

By  Senator  Wilson:  "I  should  think  somebody  would 
have  to  bring  them  to  work." 

Question  by  Senator  Whitledge:  "Isn't  it  a  fact  that  the 
only  reason  you  take  these  little  girls  is  because  you  can't  get 
the  older  ones  to  work  at  your  factory?" 

Answer:     "Well,  we  do  have  trouble  getting  help." 

Question:  "Why,  are  you  constantly  seeking  more  girls? 
Why  don't  they  stay  with  you?" 

Answer:     "I'd  give  a  lot  to  know  that  myself." 

Mr.  Waller  said  he  employed  30  girls  under  16  years  of 
age.  Most  of  them  are  foreigners.  He  declared  that  if  they 
stayed  long  enough  to  learn  the  trade  they  could  make  from 
$8  to  $10  a  week.  He  said  the  fire  escapes  were  in  good  condition. 
The  company  has  a  Victrola  in  the  lunch  room  to  entertain 
the  girls  while  they  eat. 

Most  of  the  girls  who  testified  from  department  stores 
live  at  home.  Apparently  in  this  calass  of  work  in  Kansas 
City,  few  are  adrift.  Most  of  those  who  testified  declared  if 
they  lived  away  from  home  and  had  to  depend  entirely  on  their 
wages,  they  could  not  support  themselves  on  the  salaries  paid. 

No.  26,  an  employee  at  the  Jones  Store  Company  testified 
she  received  $6  a  week  and  commissions. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "What  do  those  com- 
missions amount  to?" 

Answer:  "From  $1  to  $4  a  week." 

Question:     "Could  you  live  on  $6  a  w^eek?" 

Answer:  "Probably  not,  but  I  have  my  commissions, 
too." 

This  witness  had  a  sick  husband  at  home  whom  she  sup- 
ported.    She  gets  up  every  morning  at  4.30  to  do  her  housework 


48]  73 

before  going  to  the  store.  When  she  gets  home  at  night,  she 
testified,  she  usually  worked  until  after  eleven  o'clock. 

Witness  said  each  clerk  pait  25  cents  a  month  into  a  Mutual 
Benefit  Fund.     Anyone  sick  is  cared  for  out  of  the  fund. 

No.  27,  another  Jones  Store  employe,  testified  she  received 
$5  a  week. 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "Have  you  anything  to  sug- 
gest to  better  the  condition  of  the  girl  clerks?" 

Answer:  "I  think  they  ought  to  get  more  wages.  If  I 
had  to  live  away  from  home,  I  could  not  live  on  $5  a  week." 

Question:  "What  would  you  say  would  be  a  fair  wage?" 

Answer:  "At  least  $8  a  week." 

No.  28,  another  Jones  Store  employe  is  paid  $6  a  week. 
She  seldom  makes  any  commissions.  She  contributes  25  cents 
a  month  to  the  Mutual  Benefit  Society.  The  money  is  taken 
out  each  month  by  the  cashier  she  said. 

Witness  No.  29  from  the  Emery  Bird  Thayer  store,  began 
work  at  $14  a  month.  She  is  now  saleslady  in  the  cloak  depart- 
ment, and  gets  $35  a  month.  She  supports  herself  and  helps 
support  a  brother  who  is  in  school. 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "How  much  money  do 
you  have  to  spend  on  clothes?" 

Answer:  "About  $100  a  year." 

Question:    "Have    they    any    benefit    society?" 

Answer:  "No,  but  they  have  a  nurse  who  looks  after  the 
girls.  If  a  girl  becomes  sick  a  doctor  is  called  and  she  is  sent 
home." 

Question:  "Do  they  stop  the  pay  of  the  girls  when  they  are 
ill?" 

Answer:  "I  don't  know." 

Question:     "Do  you  have  heavy  lifting  to  do?" 

Answer:     "I  have  no  complaint  to  make." 

No.  30,  another  Emery  Bird  Thayer  employe,  began  work 
at  $12.00  a  month,  and  is  now  earning  $30.00  a  month. 

Question  by  Senator  Green:  "How  much  do  you  pay  for 
board?" 

Answer:  "$7  every  two  weeks.  I  also  help  support  a  small 
brother.     My     uncle  and  aunt  help  me  support  him." 

Question:  "Do  you  save  anything  on  your  salary?" 

Answer:  "No,  what  I  save  I  spend  on  my  brother." 

Question:  "Does  the  store  give  any  free  entertainment?'. 


74  [48 

Answer:  "Well,  twice  in  four  years  we  have  been  given  free 
tickets  to  entertainments." 

No.  31  began  work  at  the  Emery  Bird  Thayer  store  at  $3.50 
a  week  and  now  gets  $25  a  month.     She  lives  at  home. 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "Have  you  any  cause  for 
complaint?" 

Answer:  "Only  that  we  have  to  work  too  hard  for  the  money 
we  get." 

She  testified  the  system  of  fines  for  being  late  to  work  had 
been  stopped.  She  complained  that  the  store  charged  too  much 
for  food  sold  to  the  girls  in  the  employe's  lunch  room. 

"They  run  it  for  profit,"  she  testified.  "They  wouldn't 
run  it  otherwise.  The  food  should  be  served  at  cost  to  the 
girls." 

Question:  "How  much  ought  the  girls  receive  as  wages?" 

Answer:  "No  less  than  $7  or  $8  a  week  in  any  instance." 

No.  32,  an  employe  of  the  John  Taylor  Dry  Goods  Company, 
testified  she  started  at  $6  a  week  and  at  the  time  the  testimony 
was  given  was  getting  $7.  She  lives  at  home  and  uses  her  money 
for  her  own  special  use. 

No.  33,  started  at  $5  a  week  at  the  John  Taylor  store  and 
is  now  getting  $7. 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "Do  you  support  yourself 
entirely?" 

Answer:    "Absolutely." 

Question:  "How  do  you  apportion  your  expenses?" 

Answer:  "Well,  my  rooms  cost  $2.50  and  my  board  $2.25 
a  week,  that  leaves  me  $2.25  for  my  clothes,  laundry  and  other 
expenses." 

Question:  "Did  you  come  to  Kansas  City  from  the  coun- 
try?" 

Answer:  "I  did." 

Question  :  "Why?" 

Answer:  "I  thought  I  had  a  better  opportunity  in  the  city 
than  in  the  country." 

By  Senator  Wilson:  "Well,  don't  you  wish  you  were  back 
in  the  small  Missouri  town,   among  the  home  folks?" 

Answer:  "No,  I  think  I  have  bettered  my  condition  by 
coming  to  the  city." 

No.  34  testified  she  received  $8  a  week  at  Taylor's.  She 
said   she  was  satisfied  with  her  work. 

Witness  No.  35,  an  employe  at  Kline's  Suit  and  Cloak  Com- 


481  75 

pany,  testified  she  quit  a  telephone  office  at  $5  a  week  and  went 
to  work  at  Kline's. 

Question  by  Senator  Green:  "What  do  you  get  at  Kline's?" 

Answer:  "I  get  $6  a  week." 

Question:  "The  work  at  the  store  is  easier  than  at  the 
telephone  office. " 

Answer:  "I  should  say  it  is.  Telephone  girls  have  to  work 
harder  than  any  other  girls  in  Kansas  City.  They  work  under 
bad   conditions  too,   and   aren't  treated   right." 

No.  37,  a  Scotch  girl,  22  years  old,  came  to  the  United 
States  in  1910,  and  had  been  working  at  the  Geo.  B.  Peck  Dry 
Goods  Co.'s  store  ever  since.  She  started  at  $25  a  month  and 
now  gets  $35.  She  pays  $4  a  week  for  board  and  room,  walks 
to  work,  and  in  the  three  years  saved  $70.  When  a  girl  is  sick, 
she  said,  the  floorwomen  care  for  her.  This  girl  worked  in 
Scotland  for  fourteen  shillings  or  $3.50  a  week.  There  she 
went  to  work  at  9:30  in  the  morning,  had  20  minutes  for  tea  once 
in  the  morning,  once  in  the  afternoon,  an  hour  and  a  half  for 
lunch  and  was  off  duty  at  7  o'clock. 

No.  38  and  No.  39  also  employed  at  the  Peck  store  received 
$6  a  week.     Both  declared  it  meant  scrimping  to  get  along. 

No.  40  is  employed  at  the  Bernheimer  Dry  Goods  Store  and 
receives  $20  a  month.  Two  other  girls  receiving  $7.50  a  w^ek 
are  employed  at  the  same  store.  One  of  them  supports  herself 
and  her  baby  without  aid. 

Compulsory  sick  and  death  benefits  are  taken  from  the  wages 
of  Montgomery  Ward  and  Company.  Witness  No.  48  testified 
that  the  company  takes  3  per  cent  from  the  w^ages  each  week 
for  this  benefit.  If  they  are  off  more  than  three  days  the  firm 
pays  the  doctor  bills  out  of  this  fund  and  one-half  their  w^ages. 
In  case  one  of  the  employees  dies  a  benefit  of  $100  is  paid  out 
of  the  fund. 

Question  by  Senator  Whitledge:  "Isn't  that  rather  a  bene- 
fit to  take  from  your  salaries?" 

Answer:  "It  is  made  compulsory." 

Arthur  Young,  manager  of  the  Montgomery  Ward  store 
testified  a  minimum  wage  of  $7.50  had  been  established.  The 
store  is  a  large  mail  order  house  and  has  about  seven  hundred 
girl  employees. 

Three  girls  from  the  Bemis  Bag  Company  testified  that 
conditions  at  the  factory  were  bad.     They  declared  the  air  is 


76  [48 

full  of  lint  and  dust,  and  the  compan^^  did  nothing  to  protect 
them  from  it. 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "Don't  they  furnish  you  guards 
for  your  nose  and  mouth  as  some  factories  do?" 

Answer:  "No." 

Asa  L,  Hill,  manager  of  the  Kresge  5  and  10-cent  store 
denied  that  he  had  ever  warned  his  employes  that  they  must 
not  inform  the  factory  inspector  of  violations  of  the  nine-hour 
law,   as  had  been  reported  to  the  commission. 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "Didn't  you  call  your  employes 
together  when  you  learned  you  were  to  receive  a  visit  from  Mrs. 
Nan   Willison   Sperry,   and  tell  them  not  to  talk?" 

Answer:  "I  believe  there  was  such  a  meeting  called." 

Question:  "And  vou  told  them  that  Mrs.  Sperry  was  com- 
ing?" 

Answer:  "I  suppose  I  did." 

Question:  "Why  did  you  tell  them  that?" 

Answer:  "Because  I  saw  fit." 

Question:  "Did  you  refuse  to  take  a  girl  back  into  your 
employ  who  had  informed  Mrs.  Sperry  that  your  store  worked 
overtime?" 

Answer:  "I  refused  to  take  her  back." 

Question:  "For  that  reason?" 

Answer:  "That  was  one  of  the  reasons.  I  didn't  want  a 
girl  around  who  made  trouble." 

Question:  "Have  you  worked  your  girls  overtime?" 

Answer:  "I  have,  but  I  discontinued  it  on  a  warning  from 
Mrs.  Sperry.  I  do  not  believe  in  the  nine-hour  law.  In  Colum- 
bus, Ohio,  where  I  served  as  manager  of  one  of  the  Kresge 
stores  before  coming  to   Kansas   City,   there  is  no  such  law." 

Question:  "Do  you    believe  in  a  minimum  wage?" 

Answer:  "No,  any  such  law  that  fixed  a  minimum  above  $5 
a  week  would  not  work.  Girls  in  my  business  are  worth  no 
more    than    that." 

Question:  "Then  you  don't  care  how  much  of  the  flesh  and 
blood  of  these  girls  you  throw  into  the  maul  of  commerce  so 
long   as   you   make   a   profit?" 

Answer:  "I  think  you  are  putting  it  pretty  strong." 

Question:  "Well  then,  do  you  think  a  girl  can  live  on  $5  or 
36  a  week?" 

Answer:  "I  do  not  really  know." 

Question:  "Have  you  made  any  study  of  the  cost  of  living? 


48]  77 

Answer:  "I  have  not." 

Question:  "Have  you  heard  any  complaints  that  the  floor- 
walkers   used    offensive    language    to    the    girls?" 

Answer:  "I  have  heard  such  rumors,  but  I  do  not  believe 
them.  I  think  there  have  been  instances  where  the  floorwalker 
got  rough  with  customers." 

Question:  "What  is  the  condition  of  your  lunch  room?" 

Answer:  "It  is  very  good." 

Question:  "Do  you  eat  there?" 

Answer:  "No,  sir,  but  I  think  it  is  a  very  good  place  to  eat." 

Question:  "It  is  down  in  the  cellar,  isn't  it?" 

Answer:  "It  is  down  in  the  basement,  but  it  is  a  nice  base- 
ment." 

Question:  "Isn't  there  a  room  in  your  stock  rooms  for  them 
to  eat?" 

Answer:  "I  suppose  there  is,  but  they  would  raise  too  much 
racket." 

Question:  "How  much  goods  does  a  girl  you  pay  $5  a  week 
sell  in  a  week?" 

Answer:  "She  probably  averages  $100  a  week." 

Question:  "How  much  do  you  pay  your  girls?" 

Answer:  "I  have  sixty  girls  at  $5  a  week,  twenty  at  $6, 
twenty  at  $7  and  a  few  at  $8.     I  pay  none  of  them  $9. 

C.  C.  Peters,  secretary  of  the  Emery  Bird  Company  testi- 
fied his  firm  employed  950  women  and  girls  at  an  average  of  $10 
a  week.  Bundle  wrappers  are  paid  $5.  The  store  takes  only 
girls  living  at  home  and  after  their  references  have  been  thor- 
oughly investigated,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Mr.  Peters. 
"We  employ  no  women  who  cannot  live  on  their  wages,"  Mr. 
Peters  testified.  "And  we  pay  the  same  wage  to  women  that 
we  do  to  men,  efficiency  being  equal."  Mr.  Peters  believed  that 
if  a  minimum  wage  of  $7  were  fixed  it  would  work  a  revolution 
in  the  business  of  the  department  stores.  He  said  he  would  re- 
place a  great  many  of  his  girls  with  boys. 

Question  by  Senator  Wilson:  "Then  why  don't  you  use  boys 
now?" 

Answer:  "Because  the  girls  are  neater  in  appearance,  more 
refined  and  better  fitted  to  come  in  contact  with  our  trade." 

Question:  "Then  you  would  sacrifice  these  ideal  qualities 
for  the  sake  of  the  $2  a  week  you  would  be  compelled  to  pay 
girls  under  a  minimum  wage?" 


78  [48 

Answer:  "Only  in  such  instances  where  they  would  not  meet 
the    trade." 

Question:  "What  is  your  opinion  of  the  possible  workings 
of  a  wage  commission?" 

Answer:  "I  think  it  probable  it  would  be  a  political  commis- 
sion   and    highly    incompetent." 

Mr.  Peters  declared  that  the  employees  lunch  room  was  not 
operated  for  profit.  He  testified  that  8000  cases  had  passed 
through  the  company's  hospital  in  1912.  No  charge  is  made 
for  the  treatment.  A  teacher  is  paid  $150  a  month  to  instruct 
the  new  employees.  Sick  pay  is  allowed  all  old  employees  and 
commissions  are  paid  in   addition  to  regular  salaries. 

L.  M.  Jones  of  the  Jones  Store  testified  that  wages  had  noth- 
ing with  sale  percentages  cost  or  overhead  charges.  Mr.  Jones 
testified:  "There  is  a  law  of  wages  without  regard  to  me  or  my 
business.  I  couldn't  fix  them  if  I  tried.  That  law  is  the  cost 
of  living,  competition,  and  the  efficiency  of  the  worker.  De- 
partment store  help  is  the  cruedst,  rawest,  and  most  inefficient 
of  all  labor.  The  average  boy  and  girl  who  comes  into  my  store 
from  school,  cannot  sit  down  and  figure  up  the  cost  of  6  yards 
of  calico  at  6  1-4  cents  per  yard.  If  the  public  schools  would 
teach  our  boys  and  girls  with  a  little  more  regard  for  their  ne- 
cessity of  making  a  living  in  the  world,  we  wouldn't  need  a 
minimum  wage  law  or  any  other  legislation  by  the  state." 

Question  by  Senator  Whitledge:  "But  can  we  alTord  to 
reduce  our  school,  systems  to  a  commercial  basis?  Future 
presidents  of  the  United  States  must  come  from  our  public 
schools." 

Answer:  "The  future  presidents  of  the  United  States  will 
be  business  men." 

By  Senator  Whitledge:  "I  think  the  commission  is  divided 
on  that  point." 

Question:  "Have  you  any  14  year  old  help?" 

Answer:  "Not  if  I  know  it." 

William  Taylor,  vice-president  of  the  John  Taylor  Dry 
Goods  Co.,  testified  he  did  not  work  his  employees  nine  hours, 
and  that  the  store  had  always  taken  a  close  interest  in  their 
welfare. 

"We  do  not  want  any  girl  who  is  not  worth  $8  to  us,"  he 
testified.  "None  except  experienced  help  is  any  good  to  us, 
and  once  our  girls  become  experienced  we  seldom  permit  them 
to  leave  us.     I  am  opposed  to  a  minimum  wage  law,  however." 


48]  79 

F.  B.  Heath,  testified  that  the  Geo.  G.  Peck  Co.  paid  an 
average  of  $13.84  to  its  employes.  The  lowest  wage  is  $6  for 
sales  girls,  with  beginners  at  |4  and  $5.  Mr.  Heath  doubted 
the  advisability  of  the  minimum  wage  law. 

Frank  H.  Kimball,  superintendent  at  Bernheimer's,  testi- 
fied the  minimum  pay  for  beginners  is  $5,  and  the  average  weekly 
pay    with    commissions    added    is    $8.25. 

Sigmund  Harzfeld  of  the  Parisian  Cloak  Company  testified 
his  minimum  pay  was  $5  a  week,  with  an  average  of  $14.50  a 
week. 

H.  H.  Gilpatrick,  of  the  Gilpatrick  Laundry  Co.,  employ- 
ing 93  women,  testified  the  minimum  wage  was  $6  and  the 
average  $8.21.  All  but  six  of  the  women  employed  there  live 
at  home.  He  declared  the  laundry  was  sanitary  and  every 
precaution    taken    for    the    comfort    of    the    workers. 

John  B.  Dennis,  of  the  Jackson  Laundry  employing  90 
girls,  testified  the  minimum  wage  was  $6. 

L.  J.  Ingels,  manager  of  Munger's  testified  the  women  em- 
ployes started  at  $6,  the  average  wage  being  $8.10.  Sixty  girls 
are   employed.     Only  four  of  them   are   adrift. 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "Do  the  girls  often  faint 
from  heat?" 

Answer:  "We  won't  average  one  a  year." 

C.  W.  Dalrynkle,  manager  of  the  Woolworth  store  testified 
he  started  girls  to  work  at  $5  a  week  and  that  his  average  wage 
was  $7. 

Robert  Truitt,  manager  of  the  National  Biscuit  Co.,  op- 
posed a  minimum  wage  law.  "There  are  too  many  drones," 
he  testified,  "and  it  would  be  unjust  to  the  really  efficient  girl." 
"Cheap  help  is  the  most  expensive  we  have  and  we  would  much 
rather  pay  a  girl  $10  than  $5.  We  take  them  out  of  the  $5  class 
as  quickly  as  we  can,  for  while  we  are  paying  them  $5  we  are 
doing  nothing  but  teaching  them  how  to  work.  As  soon  as 
they  know^  how  to  work  we  put  them  on  piece  work  and  they 
earn  as  much  as  $22  a  week.  Eighty  per  cent  of  our  help  is 
on  piecework.  I  treat  the  girls  as  I  would  treat  my  own  daugh- 
ters. A  matron  is  provided  and  a  restroom  and  dispensary. 
A  lunch  room  is  maintained  at  which  they  can  get  a  good  lun- 
cheon for  6  cents.  I  eat  there  myself.  The  company  employs 
250  girls. 

Question  by  Senator  Green:  "If  the  state  fixed  a  minimum 


80  [48 

wage  at  $8,  could  you  pay  it  and  compete  with  other  manufac- 
turers outside  the  state?" 

Answer:    "We    could." 

H.  E.  Gould,  secretary  of  the  Loose  Wiles  Biscuit  Company 
testified  he  employed  472  girls  at  wages  ranging  from  $5  to  $20 — 
the  higher  wage  representing  piece  work. 

By  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "There  was  a  girl  up  here  the  other 
day  who  was  plainly  suffering  from  nervousness.  She  attributed 
her    condition    to    piece    work." 

Answer:  "I  don't  think  piece  work  is  any  harder  on  them 
than    housework.     Married    women    break    down    sometimes." 

Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "But  this  woman  had  a  strained  look 
on  her  face." 

Mr.  Gould:  "Well  she  probably  had  trouble  a't  home." 
•     By  Senator  Wilson:  "Do  you  knowingly  pay  any  girl  or 
woman  a  wage  that  you  know  she  cannot  live  on?" 

Answer:  "There  are  a  good  many  things  that  cannot  be  done 
in  business.  Competitive  conditions  in  other  cities  has  rnuch  to 
do  with  the  pay  here.  The  great  probability  is  that  girls  will 
get  married  anyway  no  matter  how  much  wages  they  earn. 
I  believe  that  wages  are  higher  in  Kansas  City  than  they  were 
twenty  years  ago.  Anyway,  lawyers  work  on  piece  work, 
why  not  girls?  If  you  pass  a  minimum  wage  law  in  Missouri 
we  will  be  at  a  big  disadvantage  with  other  states  that  have  no 
such  law.  I  believe  the  nine  hour  law  is  a  good  law,  but  I 
believe  the  state  has  gone  far  enough  in  that  direction."  Mr. 
Gould  denied  that  any  employees  in  his  factory  stood  nine  hours 
at  their  work. 

Frank  W.  Porter,  vice  president  of  the  Silver  Laundry  em- 
ployed 130  girls.  He  starts  them  at  $6  and  advances  them  to 
$7.50  when  they  become  experienced.  The  company  does  not 
ascertain  whether  girls  live  at  home.  His  opinion  of  a  minimum 
wage  was  that  it  would  mean  charity  for  the  inefficient.  He 
admitted  that  operating  a  stepping  machine  was  hard  work, 
but  denied  the  statements  of  a  girl  witnesses  that  the  lid  of  the 
"hot  tumbler"  had  to  be  raised  every  few  minutes.  He  said  the 
lid  of  the  machine  is  raised  by  a  balance  weight,  and  that  only 
once  in  forty  minutes.  He  denied  that  some  girls  are  paid  only 
$L50   a   week  in   Kansas    City   Laundries.. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "Can  a  girl  who  doesn't 
live  at  home  maintain  herself  on  $7.50  a  week?" 

Answer:  "I  doubt  if  she  can." 


48]  81 


ST.  JOSEPH  MEETING. 
November  21st    1913. 

The  average  working  girl  who  does  not  live  with  members  of 
her  family  who  are  able  to  contribute  to  her  support,  should  re- 
ceive a  w^age  of  not  less  than  $10  a  week  in  order  to  live  re- 
spectably, according  to  estimates  made  by  witnesses  at  the  St. 
Joseph  meeting. 

The  first  wdtness  called  was  employed  in  the  Woolworth 
ten-cent  store.  She  was  16  years  old  and  received  $4.50  a  week, 
being  on  duty  from  8  a.  m.  to  6  p.  m.,  with  an  hour  for  luncheon. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "If  you  did  not  live  with 
your  people  could  you  make  all  ends  meet  on  your  salary?" 

Answer:  'T  do  not  believe  I  could." 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "Do  you  manage  to  live 
on  the  money  you  earn?" 

Answer:  "No,  most  of  the  time  I  give  my  wages  to  my  mother 
if  she  needs  the  money,  and  if  I  need  it  she  helps  me  out.  As  a 
rule  it  takes  all  of  my  wages  to  keep  me,  although  at  times 
since  I  have  been  working  I  have  been  able  to  save  as  much  as  $1 
a  week.  Sometimes  if  I  have  a  little  money  ahead  I  buy  pres- 
ents for  members  of  the  family.  I  do  not  go  to  the  theatres  or 
other   places   of  amusement." 

Question:  "How  many  girls  work  at  the  store?" 

Answer:  "I  do  not  know." 

Question:  "Do  you  eat  your  lunch  in  the  store?" 

Answ^er:    "Yes." 

Question:  "What  kind  of  a  place  is  provided  for  the  girls  to 
rest    in?" 

Answer:  "It  is  not  very  good.  That  is,  it  is  not  very  clean, 
and  is  located  in  the  basement  where  it  is  gloomy  on  dark  days." 

Question  by  Senator  Lysaught:  "Is  there  a  system  of  fines 
employed   at  the   store?" 

Answer:    "Not   that    I    know   of." 

Question  by  Senator  Gates:  "Do  they  allow  you  to  sit  down 
when  there  are  no  customers  in  the  store?" 

Answer:  "Why  I  guess  they  would  if  such  a  thing  ever 
happened,  but  we  are  kept  busy  most  of  the  time." 

Question:  "What  happens  when  one  of  the  girls  takes  sick?" 

48 — 6. 


82  [48 

Answer:  "She  goes  home  if  she  is  able.  If  she  is  unable  to 
go  home  alone,  some  one  is  sent  with  her  in  a  carriage." 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "When  you  go  to  work  there 
are  you  given  any  set  of  rules  or  anything  of  that  kind?" 

Answer:  "No.  We  are  told  what  time  to  get  to  work,  and 
that  we  are  to  wear  dark  clothing  with  black  lace  trimmings  and 
black  aprons." 

Question:  "How  much  money  do  you  take  in  during  the 
day?" 

Answer:  "It  varies.     Sometimes  $25,  sometimes  not  so  much. 

Question:  "How  are  the  sanitary  conditions  at  the  store?". 

Answer:  "Very  good.  We  have  plenty  of  light  and  air, 
although  it  sometimes  becomes  uncomfortable  in  warm  weather." 

Question:  "When  one  of  the  girls  becomes  ill  and  is  forced  to 
leave,  who  pays  for  the  physician?" 

Answer:  "I  don't  know  as  none  of  the  girls  has  ever  become 
that  ill  since  I  worked  there." 

Question:  "Do  they  take  off  from  your  wages  if  you  are 
forced    to    stay    away    on    account    of   illness?" 

Answer:  "I  don't  know.  I  was  away  once  for  three  days 
and  I  got  my  pay  just  the  same." 

Question:  "This  rest  room  in  the  basement  is  so  situated 
that  if  a  fire  should  break  out  while  you  were  in  there,  you  would 
be  able  to  get  out  with  ease?" 

Answer:  "Yes,  I  suppose  so,  if  none  of  the  girls  became  ex- 
cited." 

The  next  witness  was  a  young  woman  employed  at  the 
underwear  counter  at  Lehman  Bros.  Dry  Goods  Store.  She 
receives  $6  a  week  and  "pms",  which  sometimes  amount  to  $4 
and  $5.  She  began  at  $5.  She  testified  she  lives  with  her  mar- 
ried sister,  she  pays  board  and  gives  part  of  her  money  to  her 
mother.  She  goes  home  to  luncheon,  as  there  is  no  place  to 
eat  in  the  store. 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "What  do  you  think  should 
be  the  minimum  wage  for  girls  who  live  away  from  home  and 
have  to  depend  solely  upon  what  they  earn  for  their  support?" 

Answer:  "Not  under  $9  or  $10  a  week." 

Question:  "If  you  had  a  place  at  the  store  to  eat  your 
lunch    would    you    take    it    with  you?" 

Answer:  "Yes." 

Question:  "Would  it  be  a  saving?" 

Answer:    "Yes." 


48]  83 

Question:  "What  kind  of  rest  room  do  you  have  there?" 

Answer:  "We  have  a  small  room  in  which  llicre  are  a  table, 
a  chair  and  two  or  three  stools. 

Question:  "When  one  of  you  becomes  ill,  how  are  you  taken 
care    of?" 

Answer:  "I  don't  know." 

The  third  witness,  employed  at  Woolworth's  ten  cent  store, 
testified  she  works  from  8  a.  m.  to  6  p.  m.  for  $5  a  week.  She 
began  at  $4  a  week. 

Question  by  Senator  Lysaught:  "Have  they  a  rest  room 
where  you  work?" 

Answer:  "Yes,  but  it  is  not  decent.  The  only  place  we  have 
is  a  back  room  with  a  few  old  chairs  and  a  table." 

Witness  supports  herself  and  gives  her  mother  money. 
She  helps  her  mother  with  housework  at  night. 

Question  by  Senator  Lysaught:  "What  if  you  are  too  tired 
to  do  this?" 

Answer:  "Well,  I  just  go  ahead  and  don't  think  about  it." 

Question:  "Are  you  allowed  to  sit  down  at  the  store  during 
the    day?" 

Answer:  "We  are  if  we  have  time,  but  the  store  is  never 
free  from   customers.     Of  course,   we   have  our  noOn   hour." 

Witness  testified  there  is  no  system  of  fines  for  the  women 
employed  at  the  store.  She  said  she  was  forced  to  quit  school 
and  go  to  work  on  account  of  the  illness  of  her  father. 

Question  by  Senator  Lysaught:  "Suppose  a  fire  should  break 
out  in  the  basement  w^here  your  rest  room  is  located.  Would 
you  have  time  to  get  out?" 

Answer:  "Yes  if  we  would  hurry." 

Question:  "What  do  you  think  a  girl  who  lives  away  from 
home  and  is  dependent  solely  on  what  she  earns  should  receive 
to  live?" 

Answer:  "Not  less  than  $9  or  SIO  a  week." 

The  next  witness,  employed  at  the  same  store,  gave  similar 
testimony.  She  declared  a  girl  should  receive  at  least  $8  to  $10 
a  week,  if  she  is  dependent  solely  upon  what  she  earns  for  her 
support.  She  receives  $4.50  and  it  takes  all  it  to  keep  her  in 
clothing,   she  said. 

A  girl  employed  in  the  Martin  Barnes  Dry  Goods  Store  in 
the  underwear  and  corset  department,  testified  she  received  $4 
a  week,  which  amount,  she  said,  is  not  sufficient  to  support  her 
and  allow  her  to  save  anything.     She  testified  the  sanitary  con- 


84  [48 

ditions  of  the  store  are  satisfactory,  but  the  rest  room  for  women 
employes  is  inadequate.  In  case  a  woman  becomes  ill  she  is 
sent  home  and  a  physician  sent  to  attend  her.  Girls  who  are 
kept  away  from  work  during  illness  receive  no  pay  for  the  time 
they  are  absent. 

She  said  there  is  no  system  of  fmes  for  the  employes.  She 
lives  with  her  parents  and  pays  $2  a  week  board,  but  on  her 
wages  could  not  support  herself,  she  said.  She  estimated  $8 
to  $10  to  be  the  least  wage  on  which  a  girl  could  support  herself 
without  help  from  her  family. 

Another  employe  of  Martin  Barnes  gave  similar  testimony 
regarding  the  sanitary  conditions  of  the  store.  She  receives 
$6  a  week  and  is  in  the  notion  department,  she  began  at  $3  a 
week.  She  said  there  is  no  complaint  by  her  employers  when 
employes  are  a  few  minutes  late  in  reaching  the  store,  and  there 
is  no  system  of  fmes.  The  company  provides  stools  for  the 
women  when  not  busy,  and  she  is  satisfied  with  her  position. 
She  lives  with  her  parents  and  is  not  dependent  solely  on  her 
wages  for  support.  She  estimated  $9  as  the  minimum  wage 
upon    which    a    girl    could    live    comfortably. 

An  employe  of  Lehman  Bros.  Dry  Goods  Company  testi- 
fied she  had  been  working  more  than  a  year  and  received  $5  a 
week.  She  began  at  $5  a  week.  She  and  her  sister  support  a 
family  of  five.  She  said  there  is  no  comfortable  rest  room  for 
women  employes.  When  any  of  the  women  become  ill  they  are 
allowed  to  go  home;  if  seriously  ill,  they  are  sent  home  in  a 
carriage.  Her  estimate  of  the  minimum  wage  a  girl  should  re- 
ceive was  $10  a  week. 

An  employe  of  Hirsch  Bros.  Dry  Goods  Company  testified 
she  had  been  employed  there  for  5  years  and  received  $30  a 
month.  She  began  at  $16.50  a  month.  She  is  unable  to  save 
anything  as  her  family  is  partly  dependent  upon  her.  Her 
sales  each  day  range  from  $20  to  $100.  She  makes  her  own 
clothes. 

Question  by  Senator  Green:  "How  much  do  you  think  it 
costs  you  each  month  to  live?" 

Answer:  "Well,  if  I  should  support  my  family  in  anything 
like  comfort  it  would  cost  me  $15  a  week.  Of  course,  I  could 
support  myself  on  considerably  less  than  that. 

Question:  "Do  you  go  home  to  lunch  at  noon?" 

Answer:  "No,  I  eat  at  the  Y.  W.  C.  A." 


48]  85 

Question:  "Do  you  know  of  any  store  in  town  where  they 
serve  food  to  the  employes  at  cost?" 

Answer:  "I  do  not  think  there  is  a  place  of  that  kind  in  the 
city." 

Question:  "Are  there  any  places  where  there  is  a  systematic 
supervision  of  the  young  women  employes,  or  where  they  pay 
any  particular  attention  to   preserving  their  health?" 

Answer:  "If  there  are,  I  do  not  know  of  them." 

Witness  said  her  hours  are  from  8  to  6  but  if  the  stock  is 
disarranged,  she  and  the  other  employes  in  her  department  are 
compelled  to  remain  until  it  has  been  placed  in  order. 

Another  witness  of  Hirsch  Bros,  said  her  salary  is  $20  a 
month.  She  began  at  $15.  She  estimated  the  wage  upon  which 
a  girl  could  live  comfortably  at  $10  or  $12  a  week. 

Henry  K.  Miller,  president  of  the  Mueller-Keller  Candy 
Company  testified  as  follows: 

"Our  girls  work  from  7.30  a.  m.  to  5  p.  m.  During  the 
summer  months,  say  from  April  to  September,  our  plant  closes 
at  1  o'clock  on  Saturday  afternoons.  We  pay  our  girls  at  the 
start  $4.50  a  week,  if  they  are  unskilled  and  then  advance  them 
as  rapidly  as  they  increase  their  efficiency.  The  maximum  wage 
is,  I  believe,  $12  a  week." 

Question  by  :  "How  did  you  happen 

to  inaugurate  the  plan  of  starting  beginners  at  $4.50  a  week?" 

Answer:  "We  made  investigation  elsewhere  and  found  that 
the  average  wage  paid  them  was  about  $4  a  week,  so  we  placed 
ours  a  little  higher.  We  employ  215  girls  and  women  and 
we  pride  ourselves  upon  the  fact  that  we  take  an  interest  in 
them  and  their  welfare.  The  second  forewoman  in  each  de- 
partment is  a  kind  of  mentor  to  the  girls  and  she  sees  after  their 
welfare.  For  instance,  if  one  of  them  becomes  ill,  it  is  her  duty 
to  visit  her  and  see  that  she  wants  for  nothing.  Each  Tuesday 
representatives  from  the  Y.  W.  C.  A.  hold  a  meeting  in  our 
factory  and  all  of  the  girls  are  urged  to  attend.  If  one  of  them 
becomes  ill,  we  learn  whether  or  not  she  has  a  family  physician, 
and  if  so,  he  is  summoned.  If  not,  one  of  our  physicians — we 
employ  several — is  summoned.  Our  company  pays  the  bills 
in  case  the  girl  has  become  ill  while  on  duty. 

Question  by  Lieut.  Gov.  Painter:  "What  do  you  do  about 
giving    the    girls    vacations?" 

Answer:  "We  encourage  this  plan  where  we  know  the 
employe  is  trustworthy  and  where  she  has  been  with  us  a  year 


86  [48 

or  more.  We  allow  our  women  employes  one  week  off  each 
year,  altho.ugh,  of  course,  we  do  not  pay  them  while  they  are 
away. 

Question  by  Senator  Gates:  "Isn't  it  a  fact,  Mr.  Mueller, 
that  you  people  prefer  girls  at  $4.50  a  week  to  those  who  be- 
come  skillful   and   earn    more?" 

Answer:  "It  certainly  is  not.  As  a  rule  the  beginners  cost 
us  more  than  they  earn  because  of  mistakes." 

E.  F.  Beasley,'  president  of  the  Pearl  Laundry  testified 
that  women  employed  in  his  laundry,  work  from  7.30  a.  m.  to 
5.30  p.  m.  The  minimum  wage  is  $6  a  week  and  the  maximum, 
is  $12  a  week.  The  company  employs  54  women.  He  said  it 
is  customary  among  the  laundries  not  to  pay  their  employes 
for  time  they  are  away  during  illness.  His  company  provides 
a  rest  room,  and  in  case  of  illness  makes  certain  that  the  em- 
ploye has  medical  attention. 

Question  by  :  "Did  you  ever  consider 

the  question  of  shorter  hours  for  your  employes?" 

Answer:  "Yes,  the  laundrymen  of  the  city  have  had  the 
matter  up  on  several  occasions,  but  nothing  has  ever  come  of  it. 
We  try  to  be  as  careful  of  our  employes  as  possible,  and  believe 
we  are  doing  all  we  can  do.  I  do  not  put  much  faith  in  this 
factory    inspection    business." 

A  widow  employed  in  the  Shirt  factory  of  the  Tootle-Camp- 
bell Dry  Goods  Gompany  testified  she  had  worked  there  five 
years.  Her  duties  consist  of  sewing  collars  on  shirts,  for  which 
she  receives  from  7  1-2  cents  to  8  1-2  cents  each.  Some  weeks 
her  wages  amount  to  $12.,  which  is  not  sufficient  to  support 
her  family.  She  said  that  the  sanitary  conditions  at  the  factory 
are  all  that  could  be  desired,  but  her  work  is  hard.  There  is 
no  rest  room  and  the  women  employes  eat  their  lunches  at  their 
machines.  She  arises  at  5:45  in  the  morning  in  order  to  get 
breakfast  for  her  children  and  reach  work  in  time. 

A  waitress  employed  at  Gibson's  Restaur'ant  testified  that 
her  employer  is  breaking  the  fifty-hour  law  for  women.  She 
worked  ten  hours  a  day- — from  7  a.  m.  to  2  p.  m.  and  from,  5 
p.  m.  to  8  p.  m. — and  worked  seven  days  a  week,  making  70 
hours  each  week,  sixteen  hours  in  excess  of  the  time  allowed  by 
law. 

Question  by  Senator  Greene:  "Has  Buchanan  Gounty  no 
prosecuting  attorney?" 


48]  87 

Answer  by  Senator  Lysaught:  "He  liasn't  been  here  for 
some  time  but  he  has  a  deputy." 

Witness  said  she  received  $7.50  per  week  and  that  she  had 
a  "hard  time"  to  get  along.  "Once  I  saved  up  $5,"  she  said, 
"but  I  got  sick  and  had  to  pay  a  girl  to  work  in  my  place." 

The  committee  directed  that  the  restaurant  proprietor  be 
sent  for. 

Waitresses  from  the  Metropole,  St.  Joseph,  and  Haber 
Hotels  were  also  examined. 

A  waitress  employed  at  the  Merchant's  Cafe  receives  $5 
a  week.  She  lives  with  her  mother.  She  is  married.  She 
husband  gets  $45  a  month.     She  receives  $1  a  week  in  tips. 

An  employe  at  the  Silver  Grill  Restaurant  testified  she  re- 
ceived $5  a  week  and  board  for  waiting  on  tables.  She  has  to 
pay  25c  a  week  for  laundry  of  aprons.  She  lives  with  her 
brother.  They  rent  two  rooms  for  $3  a  week,  making  the  rent 
SI. 50  a  week  each.  She  likes  her  work.  She  had  saved  $48 
in  six  months.     Her  clothes  cost  $50  to  $75  a  year. 

H.  J.  Barnes  of  the  Martin  Barnes  Dry  Goods  Store  testi- 
fied the  wages  paid  27  women  employed  at  his  store  ranged  from 
$4  to  $15  per  week.  The  average  is  $7.04  a  week.  Two  receive 
$4  each;  one  $4.50;  six  $5;  five  $6;  five  $7;  one  $7.50;  three  $8; 
and  one  $8.50;  one  $11;  two  $15. 

In  the  alteration  department  the  salaries  are  $8,  $10  and 
$12  a  week  and  extra  help  is  paid  $1  a  day.  The  dressmakers 
get  $8,  $10,  $12  and  $15,  with  extra  help  at  $6  or  $7  a  week. 
The  women  work  only  54  hours  a  week.  No  day  do  they  work 
more  than  9  hours.  They  are  not  docked  if  they  go  home 
a  little  early  or  arrive  a  little  late,  but  receive  no  pay  if 
they  are  off  a  half  day.  There  is  a  rest  room  on  the  3d  floor 
and  the  women  employes  are  permitted  to  use  it.  "The  nine 
hour  law  works  no  hardships  on  the  employer,"  Mr.  Barnes  tes- 
tified. 

Saleswomen  are  paid  according  to  experience  and  depart- 
ments. Those  in  the  suit  department  get  more  than  those  in 
the  notions.  Conditions  are  such  that  there  is  a  constant  de- 
mand for  the  best  class  of  saleswomen,  Mr.  Barnes  testified. 

Mr.  Barnes  testified  that  if  it  is  found  a  girl  cannot  live  on 
the  salary  with  which  she  should  be  started,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
firm,  she  is  not  employed.  He  prefers  to  hire  girls  who  live  at 
home. 

Miss  Nan  Dorsey,  a  welfare  worker,  told  the  commission 


88  [48 

that  in  several  factories  the  conditions  were  insanitary.  She 
said  there  is  no  plan  in  any  of  the  factories  for  looking  after  the 
general  welfare  of  the  girls  when  they  are  not  at  work,  but  she 
found  that  the  individual  heads  of  the  factories  usually  assisted 
as  individuals  if  any  of  the  girls  became  ill. 

Miss  Sophia  Hersch,  Secretary  of  the  Federated  Jewish 
Charities  testified  to  practically  the  same  as  did  Miss  Dorsey. 

One  women  with  two  children  supports  herself  and  two 
children  on  $9  a  week.  She  works  for  the  Conser  Laundry  Com- 
pany. She  has  to  cook  the  breakfast,  leave  the  children  with 
her  mother  and  work  during  the  day.  So  busy  is  she  kept  that 
she  has  to  work  Sundays  as  well  as  week  days.  She  sends  the 
children  to  Sunday  School  when  possible  and  would  go  herself 
if  she  had  time.     She  does  go  once  in  a  while. 

Another  woman  employed  in  the  same  laundry  received 
$7.50  a  week. 

An  employe  in  the  Pearl  Laundry  testified  the  girls  received 
from  $5.50  to  $10  a  week.  She  declared  there  was  no  place  to 
take  the  girls  if  they  become  ill  suddenly,  and  testified  that  last 
summer  on  account  of  intense  heat,  many  were  taken  sick.  She 
declared  there  is  no  rest  room  and  girls  who  become  ill  must  lie 
on  tables.  The  ventilation  in  the  laundry  is  good.  There  is 
no  dressing  room  for  girls. 

A  girl  who  has  worked  four  years  at  the  Doniphan  Candy 
Company  fixing  sample  cases,  earns  $3  to  $3.50  in  the  summer 
months.  In  the  winter  she  earns  about  $8.  She  pays  her 
mother  $2  a  week  board.  About  20  girls  are  employed  on  her 
floor,  the  second  of  the  building.  Sanitary  conditions  are  not 
very  good.  There  is  no  dressing  room.  The  ventilation  is  good. 
If  a  girl  gets  sick  she  must  lie  on  a  table  or  bench.  She  works  9 
hours  a  day.  Several  girls  employed  are  getting  6c  an  hour. 
Witness  gave  her  age  as  19.  She  quit  school  at  14  after  complet- 
ing the  8th  grade  and  started  to  work  because  she  wanted  clothes. 
Her  father  is  an  elevator  operator  in  a  packing  plant.  There  are 
three  children  at  home. 

One  chocolate  dipper  of  the  Doniphan  Company,  working 
on  the  first  floor,  earns  $8  to  $10  a  week  before  Christmas.  Two 
or  three  months  after  Christmas  she  gets  about  $7  a  week,  and 
then  $1  a  day.  She  and  a  daughter,  8  years  old,  stay  with  her 
father  and  mother.  She  pays  $3.50  a  week  for  board.  Her 
parents  help  care  for  the  child.  At  the  factory  the  girls  eat  at 
the  tables.     There  is  a  gas  stove  to  boil  coffee.     There  is  no 


48]  89 

place  to  lie  down  if  sick.     Girls  are  sent  home  in  a  carriage  if 
they  become  ill,  the  firm  paying  the  carriage  and  doctor  bill. 

A  girl  employed  at  WyaLt  &  Green's  boot  factory  for  eight 
years,  is  now  receiving  $12  a  week.  She  began  at  $2.75.  She 
testified  the  work  is  not  hard,  but  the  girls  must  be  fast  and 
steady.  She  is  the  main  support  of  her  family.  There  is  a 
mother,  brother,  and  sister.  The  brother  is  19  years  old  but 
does  not  work.  Sanitary  conditions  are  not  good  she  testified. 
There  are  no  fire  escapes  and  no  fire  drills. 

A  married  woman  at  Wyatt  &  Green's  factory  testified  she 
receives  $15  a  week.  Her  husband  is  sick  and  she  has  to  sup- 
port him. 

L.  C.  Snyder,  manager  of  Woolworth's  ten  cent  store  tes- 
tified the  girls  are  given  $4  a  week  to  start.  If  they  are  efficient 
the^^  receive  a  50c  raise.  Two  girls  receive  $12  each  a  week. 
Snyder  testified  the  rest  room  is  in  the  basement  underneath  the 
sidewalk.  It  is  ventilated  by  a  shuttle  in  the  walk.  There  is 
a  door  leading  into  it  from  the  main  basement.  One  room  is 
partitioned  off  for  a  toilet.  The  place  has  been  turned  over  to 
the  girls  and  they  have  to  keep  it  clean. 

Mr.  Snyder  testified  he  had  written  Architect  Beltz  of  the 
Missouri  stores  about  the  condition  of  the  St.  Joseph  store.  He 
said  Mr.  Beltz  had  told  him  to  fix  it  up  as  best  he  could.  He 
said  he  had  told  a  fire  insurance  agent  a  few  days  before  the  meet- 
ing of  the  commission  that  it  would  be  a  bad  thing  for  the  girls 
to  get  out  in  case  of  fire.  He  said  the  firemen  could  break  in  the 
sidewalk,  however. 

At  this  point  Lieutenant  Governor  Painter  ordered  written 
into  the  record  that  practically  the  same  conditions  had  been 
found  in  the  Woolworth  buildings  throughout  the  state. 

Mr.  Snyder  testified  there  are  716  Woolworth  stores.  68 
girls  are  employed  in  the  St.  Joseph  store. 

F.  E.  Garver,  manager  of  the  Kresge  5  and  10-cent  store 
testified  he  had  only  been  in  St.  Joseph  a  short  time.  The  com- 
pany pays  $4  to  $10  a  week  for  its  help.  The  pianist  gets  $10 
a  week,  one  girl  gets  $8,  one  $7,  eight  $6,  and  the  others  $4  to 
$4.50.  Girls  are  employed  who  live  at  home.  The  rest  room  is 
in  the  basement  and  poorly  lighted. 

W.  A.  Rainalter,  manager  of  the  National  Biscuit  Company 
testified  that  the  factory  has  175  girls  in  its  employ.  Most  of 
them  do  piece  work.  Beginners  receive  $5  a  week.  Sanitary  con- 
ditions in  the  factory  are  good,  he  said.     Mr.  Rainalter  testified 


90  [48 

that  if  girls  are  paid  a  minimum  scale  of  $8  a  week,  he  believed 
it  would  result  in  boys  being  employed.  He  declared  he  was 
opposed  to  the  9  hour  law  in  busy  seasons. 

J.  W.  Castle  of  the  Doniphan  Company;  Ralph  W.  Douglas 
of  the  Douglas  factory,  and  Earnest  E.  Chase  of  the  Chase  fac- 
tory, gave  practically  the  same  testimony  as  did  Mr.  Rainalter. 

Mr.  Chase  testified  that  it  would  be  detrimental  to  Missouri 
factories  if  a  women's  minimum  wage  were  put  into  effect.  Be- 
ginners in  his  factory  are  started  at  $5  a  week. 

One  witness  from  the  Noyes-Norman  Shoe  Company, 
married,  testified  she  received  but  $6  a  week.  She  said  she  could 
support  herself  on  not  less  than  $10. 

A  saleswomen  in  the  Leader  Dry  Goods  Company  received 
$8.50  a  week.  She  testified  the  sanitary  conditions  of  the  store 
were  satisfactory. 

A  saleswoman  in  the  glove  department  of  Townsend  & 
Wyatt  Dry  Goods  Store  received  $9  a  week.  The  store  has  a 
well-equipped  rest  room  for  its  employes. 

A  widow  from  the  same  store  testified  she  was  paid  SIO  a 
week.     Upon  this  she  supported  herself  and  two  children. 

The  next  witness  was  in  the  employ  of  the  Richardson  Dry 
Goods  Company,  in  the  overall  factory  on  piece  work.  She  tes- 
tified she  rooms  with  another  girl  employe  and  receives  from  $4 
to  |5  a  week.     It  costs  her  S4  a  week  for  living  expenses. 

A  16  year  old  girl  employed  in  the  shirt  department  of  the 
Richardson  store  testified  she  earned  on  an  average  of  S7.50 
per  week,  the  majority  of  which  goes  to  the  support  of  her  family. 
She  testified  that  sanitary  conditions  in  the  department  in  which 
she  works  are  not  very  good. 


48]  91 


JOPLIN   MEETING. 

February  6,  1914. 

Conditions  in  Joplin  are  not  materially  different  from  other 
cities.  In  many  establishments  the  sanitary  conditions  were 
better.  This  is  particularly  true  of  laundries.  It  was  brought 
out  that  bundle  wrappers  are  paid  only  $2.50  a  week. 

One  particularly  pathetic  case  was  brought  to  the  attention 
of  the  commission.  It  was  that  of  a  widow  employed  in  a  laun- 
dry. She  received  $7  a  week  for  her  services,  with  which  she 
supports  herself  and  five  children.  The  oldest,  a  girl  of  18  years, 
had  been  sick  for  six  months  and  had  no  medical  attention.  The 
mother  w^alks  to  and  from  work,  a  distance  of  nearly  two  miles, 
each  morning  and  night. 

"It  has  been  tough  sledding,  but  I  have  managed  to  make 
both  ends  meet  in  the  past,  and  I  suppose  I'll  have  to  in  the 
future,"  said  the  woman. 

Throughout  the  questioning  she  never  whimpered. 

"I  own  my  own  little  cottage  at  the  extreme  limits  of  East 
Joplin,"  she  said,  "otherwise  I  could  not  exist  and  support  the 
five  children  on  the  low  wages  I  receive.  Some  day,  I  hope,  the 
children  will  be  able  to  assist  in  filling  the  family  larder." 

Then,  reluctantly,  she  went  deeper  into  her  life. 

"It  is  too  bad,  but  you  have  made  a  brave  fight  and  you  de- 
serve a  better  fate,"  said  Senator  Whitledge. 

"I  manage  besides  furnishing  board  and  clothes  for  myself 
and  four  children,  four  of  whom  attend  school,  to  carry  a  life 
insurance  policy  for  myself  and  a  smaller  policy  for  each  of  the 
children.  Some  day  they  might  need  it.  I  may  not  always  have 
a  job,"  she  continued. 

Question  by  Senator  Gates:  "How  do  you  spend  your 
Sundays  and  evenings?" 

Answer:  "Always  sewing.  I  am  never  idle,  it  is  one  con- 
tinuous battle  for  bread  and  butter." 

Question:  "Do  you  never  go  to  amusements  or  have  any 
diversion?" 

Answer:  "Seldom.  Once  in  a  while  the  children  and  I  go 
to  church  or  to  Sunday  school.  We  see  the  picture  shows  but 
little.  We  live  too  far  from  them,  besides  we  haven't  the  cloth- 
ing, the  time,  nor  the  money." 


92  [48 

During  the  testimony  it  developed  that  her  husband  was 
killed  in  a  mine  accident  near  Webb  City  more  than  a  year  ago. 

The  first  witness  called  was  an  18-year  old  employe  of  the 
Woolworth  Store.  She  testified  she  received  $4  a  week.  This 
was  the  lowest  wage  paid  at  that  store.  She  declared  she  gave 
$2  a  week  to  her  parents  for  board;  that  she  took  her  lunch  and 
ate  it  at  the  store;  that  she  stood  up  all  day  and  was  pretty  tired 
at  night;  that  the  toilet  rooms  at  the  store  were  not  clean,  and 
that  she  worked  nine  hours  a  day. 

"Do  you  ever  get  anything  ahead?"  asked  Senator  Kinney. 

"I  never  have  yet,"  replied  the  girl. 

This  question  was  asked  almost  all  the  girls  and  only  in  one 
instance  was  there  a  reply  in  the  affirmative.  One  girl  said  she 
had  joined  a  Christmas  Savings  club  and  was  trying  to  save  $2 
a  week,  but  she  didn't  believe  she  could  keep  it  up. 

Witness  No.  2  also  worked  at  Woolworth's.  She  said  she 
started  working  6  months  before,  and  if  she  had  not  been  forced 
to  go  to  work  she  would  have  completed  the  ninth  grade  in 
January.  She  lives  with  her  parents  and  has  to  get  up  at  6:30 
o'clock  every  morning  to  be  on  time  at  the  store.  She  lives 
about  a  mile  distant  from  it  and  walks  both  ways.  She  said  she 
practically  never  had  any  money  to  attend  even  a  5-cent  picture 
show  and  she  doesn't  always  go  to  Sunday  School  and  church, 
because  she  is  too  tired. 

The  third  witness  testified  that  she  works  for  the  Newman 
Mercantile  Company  as  a  bundle  wrapper.  She  worked  nine 
hours  a  day,  she  said  and  received  $2.50  a  week. 

Question  by  Senator  Whitledge:     "What's  that  you  say?" 

Answer:     "I  only  get  $2.50  a  week. 

Question:     "How  long  have  you   worked  there?" 

Answer:     "About  four  months. 

Question:     "Do  you  think  the  firm  will  ever  raise  your  pay?" 

Answer:  "Yes,  most  of  the  girls  who  start  at  $2.50  a  week 
are  paid  more  after  they  have  been  there  five  or  six  months. 

"Do  you  ever  have  time  to  sit  down?"  asked  Senator  Cates. 

"Oh,  yes,"  she  replied,  "we  have  time  to  sit  down  and  rest." 

The  bookkeeper  from  Newman's  store  took  the  stand 
next. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinnes:  "How  many  girls  are  re- 
ceiving $2.50  a  week  at  the  store  where  you  work?" 

Answer:     "I  don't  think  more  than  half  a  dozen." 

Question:     "How  many  receive  $3  a  week?" 


48]  93 

Answer:  "About  the  same  number.  Most  of  the  girls 
receive  $4  after  they  have  been  there  six  months." 

Question:     Are  there  any  paid  $5  and  $6  a  week?" 

Answer:  "Yes,  I  think  about  a  dozen  receive  $5  and  prob- 
ably the  same  number  receive  $G." 

Question  by  Senator  Whitledge:  "What  do  you  think  is  a 
living  wage  for  a  girl?"' 

Answer:  "Well,  I  don't  see  how  a  girl  could  board  and 
clothe  herself  for  less  than  $8  a  week." 

Witness  had  worked  in  Tulsa,  Oklahoma  before  going  to 
Joplin.  Wages  are  better  in  Tulsa  than  Joplin,  she  said.  She 
said  the  store  fined  girls  who  were  late  to  work  in  the  morning. 
No  rest  rooms  are  provided.  Clerks  are  given  one  week's  vaca- 
tion after  they  had  been  there  a  year. 

"I  don't  think  I  ever  knew  of  a  firm  that  was  more  consider- 
ate of  their  help  than  Newman's,"  said  the  witness. 

"Are  you  satisfied  with  your  job,"  asked  Senator  Kinney. 

"I  certainly  am,"  came  the  quick  reply. 

The  next  witness  testified  that  she  works  at  the  Ramsay 
Dry  Goods  Company's  store.  She  said  she  goes  to  work  at 
8:30  o'clock  and  quits  at  5:30  and  gets  $6  a  week.  Of  this 
amount  she  has  to  pay  $3  for  board.  She  said  the  toilets  in  the 
store  are  clean  and  sanitary. 

"What  would  happen  if  you  got  sick?"  asked  Senator  Lys- 
aught. 

"Oh,  I  don't  know,"  replied  the  girl.  "I  guess  the  city  would 
just  have  to  take  care  of  me." 

This  witness  said  she  would  like  to  tell  something  about 
Woolworths  where  she  was  formerly  employed.  Senator  Kin- 
ney assured  her  the  commission  wanted  every  bit  of  information 
it  could  obtain.  The  girl  said  that  when  she  worked  at  the  ten- 
cent  store  girls  were  not  allowed  to  leave  their  counter  during 
working  hours  to  wash  their  hands. 

The  next  girl  to  testify  worked  at  Ramsay's  store,  and  re- 
ceived $4.50  a  week.  She  formerly  worked  at  L.  S.  Boucher's 
cigar  factory.  The  first  day  she  worked  there,  she  said  she  made 
ten  cents. 

When  she  got  more  proficient  she  earned  from  $4.00  to  $4.80 
at  the  factory. 

Witness  No.  7  was  a  little  girl  who  works  at  Ramsay's  and 
gets  $4  a  w^eek.     Her  mother  is  living  but  she  doesn't  live  with 


94  [48 

her.  She  pays  $1  a  week  board,  %1  a  week  for  clothes,  $1,20  a 
week  for  carfare  and  lunches  and  50  cents  for  laundry. 

"That  leaves  you  30  cents,"  said  Lieutenant  Governor  Pain- 
ter.    "What  becomes  of  that?" 

The  girl  did  not  know.  Then  she  added  that  most  weeks 
she  borrowed  a  dollar  from  friends,  and  the  next  week  had  to 
borrow  another  to  pay  it,  so  she  always  owed  a  dollar. 

The  next  witness  worked  at  the  Keystone  Laundry  for  $6.50 
a  week.  She  was  well  satisfied  with  her  position,  and  declared 
the  rooms  were  all  kept  clean  and  that  it  was  a  nice  place  to  work. 

The  ninth  witness  also  worked  at  the  Keystone  Laundry. 
She  said  her  wage  is  $8  a  week,  that  her  parents  are  dead  and  that 
she  payed  $2.50  a  week  for  board.  She  thought  that  if  she  had 
to  pay  regular  board  she  could  not  live  on  less  than  $8. 

The  next  girl  said  her  mother  and  two  little  brothers  depend 
mostly  on  her  salary  of  $4.50  a  week,  which  she  receives  from  the 
Christman  Dry  Goods  Company.  She  said  she  never  spends 
more  than  ten  cents  for  lunch,  but  that  she  generally  gets  a  "full 
meal"  for  that  amount  at  her  grandfather's  home. 

Another  witness  testified  she  received  $5.50  weekly  from 
Christman's.  She  said  the  girls  there  are  fined  when  they  ar- 
rive late  for  work,  but  she  never  has  been  fined. 

Witness  No.  12  said  she  made  $9  a  week  at  Boucher's  cigar 
factory,  and  that  she  lives  with  her  mother. 

"Do  you  help  support  her?"  asked  Senator  Lysaught. 

"I  do  it  all,"  said  the  girl. 

The  next  witness  also  worked  at  Boucher's,  making  $6  a 
week.  She  lives  with  her  parents,  but  her  father  is  out  of  work. 
She  said  she  and  her  sister,  who  gets  $3  a  week  at  Boucher's, 
for  piece  work,  support  the  family.  She  said  she  goes  to  Sunday 
School  and  church  regularly. 

A  girl  who  works  at  the  New  Method  Laundry  gets  $4.95  a 
week,  all  of  which,  she  said,  goes  to  the  support  of  the  family. 

A  widow  with  a  9-year-old  daughter  to  support  testified  she 
worked  at  the  New  Method  Laundry,  averaging  $4.95  a  week. 
She  said  she  pays  her  mother  $3  a  week  for  board,  and  had  to 
buy  clothes  for  herself  and  for  her  daughter  with  what  is  left  of 
the  weekly  earnings. 

Arthur  R.  Eustice,  manager  of  the  Woolworth,  5  and  10- 
cent  store  testified  he  employed  27  girls  besides  three  male 
floorwalkers  and  two  stock  boys.     The  girls  are  paid  between 


48]  95 

$4  to  $8  a  week.     Seven  are  paid  $5  a  week,  beginners  $4  and 
up  to  $8.50  for  two  girl  employes. 

"Did  you  consider  how  the  girls  are  able  to  exist  on  the  mini- 
mum wage?"  Mr.  Eustice  was  asked  by  Chairman  Kinney. 

"No,  I  never  did,"  said  Mr.  Eustice. 

Question  by  Senator  Gates:  "Did  you  concern  yourself 
to  determine  if  the  girls  live  at  home,  whether  they  have  parents 
or  anyone  dependent  upon  them?" 

Answer:  "To  a  certain  extent  only.  We  strive  to  hire 
girls  who  live  at  home  while  working,  but  do  not  inquire  further." 

Question:  "Why  do  you  try  to  employ  girls  only  who  live 
at  home?" 

Answer:  "Because  they  are  more  dependable  and  faithful 
in  their  work  generally." 

Question:  "Do  you  concern  yourself  whether  the  girl  can 
live  decently  on  the  wages  paid  her?" 

Answer:  "No,  I  have  not,  for  none  that  I  employ  has  to 
depend  upon  her  wages  entirely,  I  believe.' '  • 

Mr.  Eustice  declared  appearances  were  considered  in  em- 
ploying girls.  A  rest  room  is  provided,  but  there  was  no  lounge. 
The  girls  that  become  ill  are  cared  for.  Mr.  Eustice  determines 
the  pay  each  person  shall  receive.  He  said  each  person  that  had 
been  in  the  firm's  employ  a  year  was  given  a  week's  vacation  with 
pay,  for  two  years,  a  two  week's  vacation  with  pay,  and  for  ad- 
ditional service,  a  Christmas  present,  in  addition.  The  pay  roll 
per  week  for  the  girls  amounst  to  $150. 

The  profits  of  the  Woolworth  establishment  were  inquired 
into. 

Question  by  Senator  Cates:     "Isn't  it  a  fact  that  the  Wool- 
worth  Company  could  pay  the  girl  employes  a  minimum  wage  of 
46  or  $7  and  still  realize  a  profit  on  the  investmcnl?" 

Answer:     "Yes,  perhaps  it  could,  but  I  do  not   know." 

Question:  "Would  you  hire  girls  at  $2.50  a  week  if  it  were 
possible  to  do  so?" 

Answer:     "I  don't  know,  but  I  believe  not." 

Question:  "What  do  you  think  of  the  plan  of  the  state 
■fixing  the  wages?" 

Answer:     "I  have  not  considered  the  proposition." 

To  questions  relating  to  the  dividends  paid  by  the  Joplin 
store,  or  volume  of  business  done  by  it  annually,  Mr.  Eustice 
declined  to  answer.  He  was  asked  if  the  managers  were  not  ex- 
pected to  make  as  good  showing  as  possible,  which  tended  to  re- 


96  [48 

duce  the  wages  paid  to  girls.     Mr.  Eustice  admitted  managers 
were  expected  to  do  that. 

''How  did  you  arrive  at  the  $4  minimum  scale?"  Lieuten- 
ant Governor  Painter  inquired. 

"Because  we  could  get  them  for  that,"  said  Mr.  Eustice. 

Managers  or  proprieters  of  the  various  laundries  of  Joplin 
then  were  summoned  before  the  commission. 

J.  W.  Walker,  manager  of  the  Keystone  Laundry,  appeared 
to  testify  first.  He  employs  15  girls  now  at  wages  ranging  be- 
tween $4  and  ^8,  excepting  the  forewoman  who  is  paid  $14  a 
week,  he  said. 

Question  by  Lieutenant  Governor  Painter:  "How  did  you 
arrive  at  the  $4  a  week  minimum  wage?" 

Answer:  "It  seemed  to  be  the  uniform  price  when  I  came 
here.     The  more  they  learn  the  more  money  they  pay." 

Question:  "Have  you  ever  figured  out  what  it  would  cost 
for  a  girl  to  live  comfortably?" 

Answer:     "No,  I  have  not,  except  in  a  general  way." 

Question:  "Do  you  know  how  much  it  would  cost  to  re- 
place the  girl  employes  with  men." 

Answer:  "No,  a  man  should  not  get  more  than  a  w^oman  for 
the  same  work,  however.  I  do  not  believe  that  I  could  employ 
men  at  the  same  price,  though." 

Question:  "Would  you  prefer  girls  to  men  if  the  same  wage 
were  paid." 

Answer:  "Yes,  generally,  because  the  work  is  more  adapt- 
able to  women  and  therefore  they  can  do  better  and  more  efficient 
work." 

Mr.  Walker  was  asked  what  conveniences  had  been  made  for 
the  workers.  He  testified  that  the  sanitary  conditions  were  good, 
and  that  he  had  a  place  for  a  lunch  room,  but  had  never  fitted, 
it  up.  "I  intend  to  do  so,  however,"  he  said.  "I  have  taken 
special  interest  in  the  girls'  welfare  and  try  to  get  them  to  save 
their  earnings  and  become  more  efficient  in  their  work." 

Question  by  Lieutenant  Governor  Painter:  "Do  you  try  to 
get  the  girls  who  receive  $4  a  week  to  save  their  money?" 

Answer:  "They  could  not  do  so  very  well,  but  I  am  no 
slave  driver  and  try  to  do  the  best  possible  by  them." 

Question  by  Senator  Whitledge:  "If  a  higher  price  for 
labor  were  paid,  could  you  continue  to  make  a  profit?" 

Answer:     "Not  without  charging  more  for  laundry  work." 

Question:    "Could  your  average  patron  afford  to  pay  more?" 


48]  97 

Answer:  "Some  could  pay  more  and  probably  would  do 
so.  We  have  some  though  that  never  have  paid,  and  never  would 
do  so  at  any  price." 

J.  G.  Richardson,  one  of  the  proprieters  of  the  New  Method 
Laundry,  testified  next.  He  employs  23  girls,  at  wages  ranging 
from  $4  to  |8  a  week,  he  told  the  commissioners. 

Question  by  Lieutenant  Governor  Painter:  "How  did  you 
arrive  at  the  minimum?" 

Answer:     "It  is  the  prevailing  minimum." 

Question:     "Could  you  afford  to  pay  more." 

Answer:  "No,  we  pay  all  they  are  worth  and  could  not 
afford  to  pay  more.  I  had  intended  to  increase  the  general  wage 
this  winter,  however,  but  had  to  abandon  the  project  on  account 
of  a  slump  in  the  business." 

Mr.  Richardson  testified  he  did  inquire  whether  a  girl  lived 
at  home  for  had  to  support  herself. 

"It  makes  no  difference  to  me  whether  a  girl  lives  with  her 
parents.  I  do  prefer  to  hire  home  girls  because  they  are  more 
permanent." 

Question  by  Senator  Whitledge:  "Do  you  believe  in  a 
state  minimum  wage  law?" 

Answer:     "I  do  not  believe  it  would  be  practical." 

He  did  suggest  a  form  similar  to  that  now  existing  in  Kan- 
sas, where  each  employe  serves  6  months  or  more  as  an  appren- 
tice. 

P.  E.  Stearns  of  the  Star  Laundry  said  he  employed  14  girls, 
at  wages  ranging  from  $4  to  $7,  except  the  forewoman. 

"I  used  to  pay  but  a  minimum  wage  of  13.50,  but  later  in- 
creased  it.     I   believe   they   deserved   the   extra   half-dollar. 

"What  do  you  think  of  the  nine-hour-a-day  law  in  this 
state?"  asked  Chairman  Kinney. 

"I  do  not  like  it.  It  interferes  with  business  and  is  of  no 
benefit  to  the  employes.  Under  the  old  system  the  girls  worked 
overtime  perhaps  during  the  first  half  of  the  week,  and  toward  the 
end  were  permitted  to  work  but  a  half  day." 

"Do  you  believe  in  a  minimum  wage  law  of  $8  a  week?" 
asked  Senator  Whitledge. 

"The  public  would  simply  have  to  pay  the  difference." 
said   Mr.    Stearns. 

P.  Taylor,  one  of  the  proprietors  of  the  Joplin  Laundry, 
employs  from  15  to  20  girls,  at  wages  ranging  from  $4  to  $10  a 

48—7. 


98  [48 

week,  he  testified.  The  average  was  about  $5.50,  he  said.  But 
two  women  received  Ihe  maximum  of  $10  a  week.  A  small 
dressing  room,  but  no  lunch  room,  is  provided,  he  said. 

"The  girls  generally  use  the  work  tables  to  dine  upon,"  he 
said.  "I  do  not  inquire  whether  an  employe  lives  at  home  or 
supports  herself." 

Question  by  Lieutenant  Governor  Painter:  "Do  you  ever 
figure  out  how  much  it  costs  a  woman  to  live?" 

Answer:  "No  I  do  not.  There  are  so  many  different  styles 
of  living?" 

Question:  "Why  do  you  employ  women  in  preference  to 
men?" 

Answer:  "Because  they  are  more  efficient  and  can  be  hired 
for  less  wages." 

Marriage  was  the  one  setback  Mr.  Taylor  brought  to  the  at- 
tention of  the  commission.     He  did  not  recommend  any  remedy. 

"About  the  longest  any  girl  ever  works  is  three  years."' 
he  said.  "Then  they  run  away  and  get  married,  just  about  the 
time  they  are  earning  a  good  salary.  When  a  man  marries  he 
is  more  apt  to  'stick'  than  before.  It  is  just  the  reverse  of 
women." 

"Isn't  it  a  fact,"  inquired  Senator  Gates,  "that  they  quit 
generally  because  they  can  get  better  pay  some  where  else?" 

"The  matter  of  wages  does  not  enter  into  the  question,  I 
have  concluded.  When  they  get  a  chance  to  marry,  they  are 
off?" 

"Who  fixes  your  salary,"  came  from  Lieutenant  Governor 
Painter. 

"I  do,"  said  Taylor. 

"How  do  you  determine  what  you  are  worth?" 

"That  isn't  the  question.  I  make  it  as  high  as  I  can  con- 
sidering the  profits  of  the  business." 

"Don't  you  believe  that  if  the  girls  were  fixing  your  salary 
they  would  decrease  it  and  add  the  difference  to  their  own?" 
asked   Senator  Whitledge. 

"Yes,  I  guess  they  would  and  you  couldn't  blame  them." 
replied  Mr.  Taylor, 

Two  Star  Laundry  employes  appeared.  The  first  said  she 
receives  $7  a  week  sorting  "Rough  dry  work."  Her  husband  is 
divorced  from  her,  she  said.  A  ten  year  old  daughter  and  her- 
self are  supported  by  the  $7  weekly  income. 

"I  never  can  save  anything,  however,"  she  said.     "I  don't 


48]  99 

know  what  I  would  do  if  either  of  us  should  become  ill.  I  am 
just  existing  as  it  is — never  have  a  penny  ahead  for  a  rainy  day. 
A  woman  needs  from  |8  to  $9  a  week  to  live  comfortably." 

She  said  she  has  no  other  relatives  near.  All  of  the  $7  is 
expended  before  the  week  is  ended,  she  said.  She  has  worked  at 
the  laundry  two  years. 

"How  much  have  you  managed  to  save  in  that  time?" 
asked  Lieutenant  Governor  Painter. 

"Twenty-five  cents,"  she  answered. 

Comparison  of  wages  received  in  stores,  factories  and  laun- 
dries, as  compared  to  domestic  work  was  taken  up  by  Senator 
Gates. 

"Why  do  girls  and  women  abandon  the  homes  to  work  in 
factories  and  stores?"  he  inquired. 

"Because  they  do  not  have  to  work  on  Sundays  or  holidays, 
and  they  have  regular  working  hours,"  was  the  opinion  expressed 
by  the  witness,  and  it  received  the  assent  of  the  two  following 
witnesses.  They  admitted  that  girls  could  save  more  as  domes- 
tics than  in  any  other  general  store  or  factory  work. 

Albert  Newman,  president  of  the  Newman  Mercantile  Com- 
pany testified  the  range  of  wages  in  the  Newman  store  are  from 
S2.50  to  $5  a  week  for  women.  Newman's  maintains  a  fine 
system  for  tardy  help,  but  it  seldom  is  enforced,  Mr.  Newman 
said. 

"To  whom  does  the  money  derived  from  fines  go?"  asked 
Chairman  Kinney. 

"To  the  company,  but  we  enforce  it  only  when  an  employe 
becomes  chronically  dilatory." 

Mr.  Newman  testified  that  many  girls  are  not  worth  what 
is  paid  them,  but  that  they  were  retained  to  fill  the  various  de- 
partments. "While  some  departments  lose  us  money,  others 
are  highly  profitable,  so  in  that  way  we  are  able  to  maintain  a 
general  average,"  said  Mr.  Newman. 

Commissions  are  paid  all  employes,  he  said,  which  increased 
the  weekly  salary.  "It  brings  out  the  best  that  is  in  them,"  he 
explained.  The  employes  are  permitted  to  use  the  public  rest 
room  and  also  the  employes'  apartments  on  the  fifth  floor,  he 
said. 

Mr.  Newman  said  marriage  laws  are  not  sufficiently  strict 
and  that  this  results  in  many  deserted  wives  having  to  seek  work. 

"Of  seventy-nine  women  we  employ,"   Mr.   Newman   de- 


100  [48 

clared,  "thirty-one  have  been  married,  and  the  husbands  of  only 
one  or  two  are  dead." 

Mr.  Newman  testified  the  firm  employs  girls  who  live  at 
home  when  this  class  of  employes  can  be  hired.  But,  he  added,  it 
would  rather  employ  men.  This  is  impractical  because  boys 
physically  are  fit  to  earn  larger  wages  than  the  firm  can  afTord 
to  pay  to  an  inexperienced  person. 

As  regards  preference  for  male  employes,  Mr.  Newman 
pointed  out  what  he  believes  is  a  peril  to  women  in  a  minimum 
wage  scale  for  feminine  workers. 

"After  a  bo^^  attains  even  a  mediocre  degree  of  efficiency," 
he  said,  "he  is  more  efficient  than  two  girls  who  each  get  $5  a 
week.  An  efficient  man  is  capable  of  doing  the  work  of  three 
ordinary  girls.  If  a  minimum  wage  scale  is  fixed  at  a  high 
amount,  women  workers  will  be  discharged  and  men  will  take 
their  positions." 

"Patrons  prefer  to  be  served  by  men,"  Mr.  Newman  said. 

P.  A.  Christman  of  the  Christman  Dry  Goods  Company 
said  the  firm  he  represented  employs  thirty-four  women.  They 
are  paid  as  follows:  Eleven  get  from  $10  to  $23;  eleven  get  from 
$6  to  $10;  six  get  from  $5  to  $6,  and  six  get  from  $4  to  $5  a  week. 
The  least  experienced  employes — bundle  wrappers,  get  as  low 
as  tA  a  week,  he  said. 

Mr.  Christman  added  that  the  firm  loses  money  when  it 
employs  a  girl  at  a  wage  as  low  as  $4  a  week.  He  also  said  his 
firm  employs  girls  who  live  at  home  and  that  girls  who  do  not 
live  at  home  with  parents  are  cared  for  when  they  become  ill. 
He  believes  a  minimum  wage  for  women  would  drive  women  from 
stores,  if  it  were  made  high  enough. 

Mr.  Clifford  Condon  of  the  Ramsay  Dry  Goods  Company 
said  32  women  were  employed  at  the  Ramsay  store.  The  lowest 
wage  is  $3.50  a  week,  paid  to  bundle  wrappers.  The  average 
wage  is  $9.10  a  week.  The  hours  are  eight  in  the  winter,  and 
nine  the  remainder  of  the  year. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "What  effect  would  a 
minimum  wage  of  $7  a  week  have?" 

Answer:     "It  would  lower  the  wages  of  high-priced  girls." 

Of  the  thirty-two  girls  employed  by  the  Ramsay  Company, 
only  four  live  away  from  home.  "  'Home  girls'  are  hired  be- 
cause it  is  easier  to  'get  a  line  on  them,'  "  he  said. 

Mr.  Newman  was  permitted  to  give  additional  information, 
off  record.     He  said  it  would  be  necessary  to  hire  cheap  girls  in 


48]  101 

every  department  and  that  his  firm  could  not  allord  to  hire  the 
most  efTicient  girls  in  the  city,  in  a  body,  as  a  representative  of 
another  firm  had  declared  his  firm  would  do  gladly. 

"It  is  required  that  cheap  labor  be  employed?"  Mr.  New- 
man declared,  "because  there  are  times  when  patrons  demand 
quick  service  and  'rushes'  develop.  When  trade  is  not  brisk  these 
cheaper  employes  are  not  needed  and  it  would  bankrupt  a  depart- 
ment to  have  to  pay  them  wages  of  expert  employes." 

L.  S.  Boucher,  cigar  factory  owner,  employs  forty  women. 
They  are  paid  as  follows:  Two  get  $15,  five  get  $10,  ten  get 
$7,  ten  get  $6,  ten  get  $5  and  three  get  $3  a  week. 

In  the  Boucher  factory  women  are  paid  for  piece  work. 
The  first  week  girls  earn  from  $2  to  $3.  In  three  or  four  months 
they  are  paid  $5  or  $6  and  in  two  or  three  months  more  they  are 
paid  as  high  as  $8  a  week.  The  most  efficient  girls  are  put  into 
the  cigar  making  department,  starting  again  at  as  low  a  wage  as 
$2  a  week.     Within  a  year  they  earn  as  much  as  $10  a  week. 

Mr.  Boucher  said  he  started  in  the  business  when  he  was 
16  years  old  at  a  weekly  wage  of  $1.50.  He  said  he  believed  girls 
cannot  live  on  the  wages  they  get  when  they  start  to  work  in  his 
factory  unless  they  have  outside  aid. 

0.  D.  Bittick,  formerly  a  truant  officer,  said  he  believes 
employers  employ  girls  who  live  at  home  because  parents  have 
to  pay  part  of  the  wages. 

"It  costs  $5  a  week  to  keep  a  girl,"  Mr.  Bittick  declared. 
"The  stores  pay  half  of  this  in  some  cases  and  the  parents  pay  the 
remainder." 

Low  wages  received  by  parents  is  the  cause  girls  have  to  be- 
gin work  at  a  young  age,  Mr.  Bittick  declared. 

Mrs.  Mary  F.  Robinson  engaged  in  welfare  work,  appeared 
before  the  commission  and  pleaded  for  the  commission  to  work  in 
behalf  of  a  minimum  wage  scale  for  girls.  She  suggested  |8 
as  a  proper  amount. 


102  •        [48 


SPRINGFIELD   MEETING. 

February  5.  1914. 

Girls  in  Springfield  are  living  adrift  on  $3  a  week.  Some  are 
getting  board  for  $2  a  week,  attend  church  and  eliminate  amuse- 
ments. They  are  clothing  themselves  on  $1.50  a  w^eek  and  in 
some  instances  walk  more  than  a  mile  to  work.  In  the  ten  cent 
stores  $5  a  week  is  the  maximum  wage,  but  the  majority  get  only 
$3.50.  Laundry  conditions  are  good.  The  system  af  assessing 
fines  prevails  at  dry  goods  stores.  Tardy  clerks  are  fined  for 
being  a  minute  late  in  one  place.  The  money  goes  to  a  mutual 
aid  association. 

Wm.  Reps  of  the  Reps  Dry  Goods  Store  testified  that  he 
employed  30  girls.  He  furnished  the  following  list  of  salaries 
paid:  Two  at  $5  a  week,  eight  at  $6,  one  at  $7.50,  two  at  $7, 
one  at  $8,  two  at  $9,  one  at  $9.50,  four  at  $10,  two  at  $11,  one  at 
$13,  one  at  $15,  and  one  at  $35  a  week.  The  $35  salary  is  drawn 
by  the  head  of  the  millinery  department.  Mr.  Reps  declared 
that  inexperienced  employees  were  not  worth  more  than  $5  a 
week  to  him. 

W.  G.  Rathbone  of  the  Frank  B.  Smith  Laundry  testified  his 
minimum  wage  was  $5  a  week  and  the  maximum  $15.  Mr. 
Rathbone  testified  the  laundry  had  a  reading  room  and  lunch 
room.  Coffee  is  served  free  in  winter  and  iced  tea  in  the  sum- 
mer. The  following  scale  of  wages  prevailed:  Two  girls  at  8 
cents  per  hour,  eight  girls  at  9  cents,  nine  girls  at  10  cents,  twenty- 
one  at  11  cents,  nineteen  at  12  cents,  ten  at  13  cents,  four  at  15 
cents,  one  at  17  cents,  one  at  19  cents,  one  at  22  cents,  one  at 
28  cents. 

Ben  J.  Martin  of  the  Martin  Overall  Factory  admitted  that 
he  allowed  gasoline  to  remain  in  the  rooms  where  women  are 
working.  There  are  usually  two  or  three  gallons  in  the  room  at 
a  time,  said  Mr.  Martin. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "Would  you  remain  in 
this  room  a  minute  if  you  knew  there  was  one  gallon  of  gasoline  in 
danger  of  exploding?" 

Answer:     "I  probably  would  not." 

Senator  Lysaught  suggested  to  Mr.  Martin  that  a  lunchroom 
where  coffee  is  served  and  a  rest  room  would  be  effective  in  in- 
creasing the  efficiency  and  good  will  of  the  employees. 


48]  103 

R.  E.  Smith  of  the  Woolworth  ten  cent  store  testified  the 
employees  received  from  $3.50  to  $10  per  week.  Eight  girls 
receive  $3.50  per  week. 

Question  by  Lieutenant-Governor  Painter;  "Do  you  know 
how  girls  live  on  $3.50  a  week." 

Answer:  "Most  of  them  live  at  home  and  receive  help  from 
their  families."     It  is  possible  a  few  of  them  do  not." 

0.  L.  Keltner,  manager  of  the  Kresge  ten  cent  store  testified 
the  wages  in  his  store  ran  between  $4  and  $8  week  per  week. 

F.  X.  Heer  of  the  Heer  Department  store  testified  that  his 
employees  were  fined  10  cents  for  tardiness.  He  declared  the 
money  thus  received  went  into  a  mutual  benefit  association  for 
the  aid  of  girls  who  are  sick  or  in  distress.  Employees  also  con- 
tribute monthly  to  the  fund. 

Question  by  Chairman  Kinney:  "Suppose  a  girl  was  never 
tardy  and  never  sick  and  contributed  to  the  fund  several  years. 
Would  she,  on  leaving  your  employ,  get  back  what  she  had  put 
in?" 

Answ^er:     "She  would  not." 

Mr.  Heer  testified  the  minimum  wage  in  his  store  is  $5  a 
week.     One  girl,  however,  received  but  $3.75. 

One  employe  of  the  Woolworth  ten  cent  store  testified  she 
received  $3,50  a  week.  She  pays  $2  a  week  board  at  the  home  of 
a  friend.  She  gets  up  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  and  walks  to 
work  and  does  not  get  home  until  seven  o'clock  in  the  evening. 
Her  recreation  consists  of  going  to  church  and  Sunday   school. 

A  married  woman  with  seven  children  is  employed  at  the 
Heer  store  at  $5  a  week.  Her  husband  is  also  working.  Gro- 
ceries for  this  family  cost  from  $8  to  $13  a  week. 

A  widow  employed  at  Rep's  store  testified  she  was  paid  $7 
a  week.     She  has  an  18-year-old  son  who  helps  her. 

One  woman  employed  at  the  Martin  Ovarall  factory  tes- 
tified that  she  received  but  $4  a  week.  Thirty-five  girls  are  em- 
ployed in  that  factory.  Wages  range  from  S4  to  $9  a  week. 
There  is  a  well  kept  rest  room. 

No  evidence  of  intentional  injustice  or  unkindness  developed 
during  the  investigation.  In  a  few  instances,  a  genuine  personal 
interest  on  the  part  of  employers  was  indicated  by  the  beginning 
of  welfare  work.  Not  one  witness  testified  she  was  able  to  save 
money.  Some  girls  who  appeared  did  not  wear  even  substantial 
clothing.     Few  of  them  testified  that  they  had  finished  the  grade 


104  [48 

schools.  Most  of  them  got  as  far  as  the  fifth,  sixth,  and  few  of 
them  to  the  seventh  grade  when  they  quit  to  help  the  family. 

Girls  were  questioned  from  all  department  stores,  shops  and 
laundries.  A  large  per  cent  of  those  testifying  were  from  18  to 
22  years  old.  Practically  all  declared  there  were  stools  behind 
the  counters  in  the  stores  and  that  the  general  conditions  where 
they  were  employed  were  good.  Only  a  few  girls  were  found  to 
be  adrift. 

One  or  two  girls  who  worked  in  smaller  laundries  testified 
that  the  conditions  are  bad  as  to  rest  rooms,  sanitation  and  heat. 
In  the  summer  it  gets  very  warm  and  sometimes  the  girls  get 
overheated.  In  the  winter  one  establishment  has  only  the  steam 
from  the  machinery  for  heating. 

Witnesses  from  this  establishment  testified  that  it  frequently 
gets  cold  and  employees  are  made  ill  as  a  result.  These  condi- 
tions, however,  were  not  general. 


48]  105 


REPORT   OF   SECRETARY. 

To  the  Missouri  Senate  Wage  Commission  for  Women: 

I  beg  leave  to  submit  the  following  report;  attached  hereto 
being  the  report  of  Senator  Geo.  D.  Gates  for  your  commission: 

The  commission  convened  first  in  St.  Louis  May  20,  1913. 
Senator  Michael  Kinney  was  chosen  chairman.  All  members  of 
the  commission  wxre  present.  Meeting  was  held  at  the  Planters' 
Hotel.  Women  and  girl  employees  from  factories,  stores,  laun- 
dries, box  factories  and  other  places  were  subpoenaed  and  gave 
testimony.  An  office  w^as  maintained  in  the  Leathe  Building 
for  the  secretary,  and  from  this  place  the  sergeant-at-arms  with 
his  assistants  served  subpoenas. 

On  motion  of  Lieutenant-Governor  Painter  it  was  decided 
not  to  make  public  the  names  of  girls  giving  testimony,  but  that 
their  names  be  written  into  the  official  record  as  taken  by  J.  L. 
Roberts'  stenographer. 

On  motion  of  Senator  T.  B.  Whitledge  it  was  voted  to  allow 
members  of  the  commission,  the  secretary  and  the  stenographer 
$8  a  day  for  hotel  expenses.  It  was  also  decided  to  hold  all  meet- 
ings open.     Their  testimony  was  submitted. 

The  sergeant-at-arms  was  empowered  to  employ  such  help 
as  he  deemed  necessary  to  serve  subpoenas  and  make  investiga- 
tion. On  motion  of  Senator  Wilson  all  checks  were  to  be  signed 
by  Ghairman  Michael  W.  Kinney  and  Lieutenant-Governor 
Painter. 

At  its  first  sitting  the  commission  was  in  session  five  days 
and  adjourned  to  meet  June  4  in  St.  Louis.  Checks  were  ordered 
drawn  to  pay  necessary  bills  and  expenses. 

June  3  the  commission  met  again  in  St.  Louis  and  held  a 
four-day  session.  All  members  were  in  attendance.  More  evi- 
dence w-as  heard,  employers  being  called  at  this  session. 

Senator  Whitledge  offered  a  resolution  to  make  Senator  Geo. 
B.  Gates  treasurer.     The  motion  was  adopted. 

Senator  Whitledge  moved  that  the  commission  visit  other 
states  at  a  later  date  to  investigate  the  possible  effect  of  minimum 
wage  legislation.  Lieutenant-Governor  Painter  suggested  that 
this  matter  be  taken  up  after  the  chief  cities  of  Missouri  had  been 
visited.  It  was  decided  to  hold  meetings  in  Kansas  City  and  St. 
Joseph  at  the  call  of  the  chairman. 


106  [48 

More  than  200  witnesses  were  heard  at  the  St.  Louis  meet- 
ings. 

On  order  of  Chairman  Kinney  a  meeting  was  called  in  Kan- 
sas City  June  17th,  1913.  Testimony  was  taken  in  all  lines  of 
work  from  employers  and  employees.  The  expense  bills  were 
allowed  and  checks  drawn  for  same.  All  members  were  present. 
The  commission  was  in  session  three  days  and  80  witnesses  were 
examined. 

On  order  of  Chairman  Kinney  a  meeting  was  called  for  St. 
Joseph  November  20th,  1913.  Members  were  delayed  in  reach- 
ing St.  Joseph  and  the  meeting  was  held  November  21st.  Wit- 
nesses were  heard  from  all  lines  of  work.  Senator  Wilson  having 
resigned,  Senator  T.  J.  Lysaght  was  appointed  to  take  his  place. 
Senator  Cates  w^as  unable  to  attend  the  meeting. 

On  order  of  Chairman  Kinney  the  secretary  was  instructed 
to  call  a  meeting  of  the  commission  in  Springfield  February  5th 
and  Joplin  February  6th,  1914.  Meetings  were  held  in  both 
places  on  the  dates  fixed.  Senator  Greene  again  brought  up  the 
question  of  visiting  other  states  where  the  minimum  wage  is 
in  force.  Lieutenant-Governor  Painter  opposed  the  motion  and 
the  question  was  dropped.  It  was  decided  to  meet  in  St.  Louis  at 
a  later  date  and  arrange  for  the  report.  One  hundred  witnesses 
were  heard  at  the  Springfield  and  Joplin  meetings. 

A  meeting  was  called  for  St.  Louis  August  18th,  at  which 
time  the  secretary  and  stenographer  were  instructed  to  make  up 
a  report  to  be  submitted  not  later  than  December  15th.  Senator 
Cates  and  Senator  Lysaght  were  unable  to  attend  this  meeting. 
On  later  instructions  from  Chairman  Kinney,  the  secretary  made 
up  a  summary  report  of  all  the  evidence  taken,  the  whole  tes- 
timony being  of  such  volume  that  it  was  not  deemed  advisable 
to  transcribe  it  in  entirety. 


48] 


107 


COST   OF   LIVING   ESTIMATE. 

An  assistant  commissioner  of  the  Missouri  Bureau  of  Labor 
declares  that  the  average  wage  of  eight  million  wage-earning 
women  is  $6  per  week,  52  weeks  in  the  year,  making  the  total 
earnings  $312.00.  If  holidays  are  to  be  deducted  from  $312.00 
the  average  wage  is  even  less  than  $6.  She  submitted  the  fol- 
lowing figures  as  the  cost  of  living  of  a  working  girl.  The  cloth- 
ing expenditures  are  based  on  "sales,"  but  what  women  earning 
only  $6  per  week  has  the  money  to  take  advantage  of  this  money 
saving  enterprise.  Miss  Quick  made  an  investigation  in  an  or- 
ganization where  there  were  700  members  and  found  only  27  out 
of  the  700  did  not  have  to  contribute  to  their  homes. 


Winter  clothing — 

Shoes 

Hose,  4  pairs  at  16  cents  a  pair 

Shirtwaists,  6  at  98  cents  each 

Petticoat 

Dress  skirt 

Rubbers 

Coat 

Hat 

Gloves 

Dress 

Suit 

Underwear,  3  suits  at  75  cents  each .  . 

Corset 

Corset  covers,  3  at  50  cents  each 

Half-dozen  handkerchiefs  at  10  cents. 

Umbrella 

Silk  waist 

Nightgowns,  3  at  50  cents  each 

Kimona 

Incidentals 


Summer  clothing — 

Shoes 

Hose,  4  pair  at  15  cents  a  pair 

Shirtwaists,  2  at  98  cents  each 

Hat 

Summer  coat 

Gloves,  2  pairs  at  50  cents 

Summer  dresses,  2  at  $4.50  each 

Underwear,  4  suits  at  75  cents  each 

Corset 

Corset  covers,  2  at  50  cents  each 

Handkerchiefs,  1  dozen  at  10  cents  each . 


Room  and  board,  S4  a  week,  52  weeks. 

Car  fare,  60  cents  a  week 

Lunch,  60  cents  a  week 

Laimdry,  50  cents  a  week 

Church  contribution,  5  cents  a  week .  . 


Total  expenditutes 

Receipt  for  year  at  *6  a  week . 

Deficit 


.50 
.60 

.88 
.98 
.00 
.75 
.00 
.00 
.69 
.00 
98 
25 
00 
50 
60 
98 
98 
50 
00 
00 


$208. 
31 
31 
26 
10 


$64.19 


30.16 


306 . 80 


S401. 14 
312.00 


$89 . 14 


108 


[48 


One  welfare  worker  in  New  York,  makes  the  following  es- 
timate on  the  cost  of  living  for  working  girls: 


Room  rent:  Two  rooms  and  bath  for  three  girls  uniting  on  rental  of  $3  a  week .  . 
Meals:  Breakfast,  15  cents;  lunch,  15  cents;  dinner,  25  cents;  total  55  cents  daily. 
Carfare  and  newspapers  daily,  12  cents 

Expense  per  week 

Expense  per  year 

Clothes  per  year,  1  cloth  suit 

Linen  suit . .  .  ; 

One  wash  dress 

Three  waists  at  $1  each 

Stockings,  6  pairs,  50  cents,  and  6  pairs,  $1.50 

Shoes,  3  pairs  at  $2.50  each 

Rubbers,  2  pairs  at  75  cents  each 

Gloves,  3  pairs  at  69  cents  and  3  at  59  cents 

One  extra  skirt 

Dress  extras 

Underwear 

Clothes  per  year 

Income  for  52  weeks  at  $6.50 

General  expenses  for  year $295 .  88 

Cost  of  clothes  per  year 52 .  90 

Total  expenses 

Omitting  unnecessary  car  fare  ($31.20)  the  expenses  of  the  year  are 

Total  saved  for  year  (meals  outside  also  saved) 


$1.00 
3.85 

.84 


$5.69 
295.88 


$15.00 
5.00 
2.50 
3.00 


5.00 
4.00 


$52 . 90 
338.00 


348 . 78 

317.58 

20.42 


The  second  year  no  extra  skirt  is  required,  those  from  the 
suits  being  used. 

MICHAEL  KINNEY, 

Chairman. 

V 


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